vegan gingerbread trifle

This holiday dessert recipe was inspired by thefeedfeed and Vitamix! They sent me the brand new Vitamix Ascent 3500 to make a holiday recipe using a fabulous winter spice mix you can whip up in this machine.

It's super fancy with 5 program settings for smoothies, soups, dips & spreads, frozen desserts, and self-cleaning that automatically adjust to the container size you’ve selected. While it does come with that extra wide 64-ounce container, I still prefer the original slimmer 64-ounce classic canister. It's from my model that I first bought in 2009!

However, Vitamix was also kind enough to send me a brand new 48-ounce container. It's perfect for those small batch dressings and nacho cheese cravings! I do use both the large and small containers all the time, but if you watch my YouTube videos, then you know I prefer 48-ounce version. That's because it tends to blend smaller amounts more effectively.

This sweet and savory winter spice mix is the perfect accent to any holiday recipe. Try it in a warming hot chocolate, a mousse, or how about making your morning smoothie or smoothie bowl a little festive too!

I halved the gingerbread cookie recipe from my gingerbread sandwich cookies. Then I crumbled them up as one of the layers for these trifles. Next, I whipped up a winter spice custard to ooze between the layers, and added some coconut whip cream! Are you drooling yet?

Thanks to thefeedfeed and Vitamix for inspiring and sponsoring this blog post!

Happy Holidays, y'all! If you make this for your holiday feast this year, post and tag your photos on social using #hotforfoodholiday and @hotforfood.

vegan gingerbread trifle

May your days be merry and bright this winter, especially now that you can deep dive into this gingerbread trifle with layers of soft gingerbread cookies, winter spice custard, and coconut whip!

4.25 from 4 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dessert, gingerbread, gingerbread cookies, trifle, whipped cream

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes minutes

Refrigeration: 6 hours hours

Total Time: 6 hours hours 47 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Lauren Toyota

Ingredients

gingerbread cookies

• ▢ 1 ½ C all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ½ C packed brown sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
• ▢ ¼ C nondairy milk
• ▢ 2 tablespoon unsulphured molasses
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ ¼ C granulated sugar (for rolling cookies in)

winter spice custard

• ▢ 1 C silken tofu
• ▢ ¼ C nondairy milk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon winter spice mix
• ▢ ½ C + 2 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

additional ingredients

• ▢ coconut whip (use my homemade recipe or store bought)

Instructions

gingerbread cookies

• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• In a large bowl combine flour, spices, baking soda, and sea salt with a whisk or fork and set aside.
• In another mixing bowl whisk together brown sugar, coconut oil, nondairy milk, molasses, and vanilla until well combined. There should be no oil visibly separated.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold until it comes together into a soft but stiff dough. You should be able to handle it with your hands and not have any sticking. If it feels a little too soft to handle place the bowl of dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. Do not add more flour!
• Take a small amount of dough and roll it into a small ball in your hands approximately 1" to 1 ¼" wide. Roll it in granulated sugar and then place cookies slightly apart onto a parchment lined baking sheet and slightly flatten them with your hands.
• Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely before assembling the trifles.

winter spice custard

• Meanwhile you can combine the ingredients for the winter spice custard in the Vitamix until smooth. To measure silken tofu just crumble it into a measuring cup and fill until level.
• Transfer the mixture to a sauce pan and heat over medium heat for about 5 minutes whisking constantly until it’s thickened.
• Allow the custard to cool for 15 to 20 minutes before assembling trifles.
• Assemble the trifles in single serving trifle dishes, nice glasses with a wide mouth, or 250 ml jars. It's nice to assemble them in something clear so you can see the layers.
• Crumble a couple of cookies and fill the base of the dish or jar. Add a portion of the custard to just cover the cookies but do not over fill as you will be dividing this mixture into 8 portions.
• Add a layer of coconut whip, more crumbled cookies, and then a final layer of custard.
• Refrigerate these to chill and set for at least 6 hours or overnight. 

Notes

Refrigerate these to chill and set for at least 6 hours or overnight. This let's the cookies get softened by the custard and whip cream so it's a sweet and soft mouthful every time. But if you must serve right away or you ran out of time, they're still good served immediately, but I just prefer letting them set so it's more like a traditional trifle.  .

Before serving top with more coconut whip and a whole cookie or crushed cookies on top and a sprinkle of cinnamon!