Opera Singer in the Kitchen: Chocolate -Peppermint Mousse Trifle

This past Saturday I was able to attend a Christmas tea gathering with women from my church. While we were encouraged to invite other women who did not attend our church it was also a time to come together and get to know each other a little more. Last year I was not able to attend because we had hardly been in Philly for a few months and I did not have babysitters. Ryan also was busy conducting his school concerts. Did I mention that December was a busy month? ;-)

This year I volunteered to help with the tea even though it was my first time to attend. I helped by choosing the carols and by leading the women in singing them along with a friend playing at the piano. The tea was held at a BEAUTIFUL historical site in the Villanova area and it was decorated so beautifully by some of the women at our church. So beautiful to see womens' God-given talents in fruition. LOVE it.

Something else I experienced was giving a food demo to the church ladies. I had done once before at home with friends but I guess that was practice because this was in front of 40+ women. Oy! I had a few knots in my tummy almost like performance jitters especially since this was the first time sometime something like this was done at the tea. It went well!

I made a Chocolate-Peppermint Mousse Trifle and I assembled it in front of all the ladies explaining how easy it would be to prepare and to take to a party. It was a hit and I felt really great after sharing the recipe. I will be sharing the recipe so that YOU can take it to a holiday party soon. I might be making it again for a future party too.

Chocolate-Peppermint Mousse Trifle

by Noelle Kelly

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 45min

Ingredients (8 servings)

1 recipe using your favorite chocolate boxed cake
2 recipes for boxed chocolate pudding
3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup crushed peppermint candies
chocolate chips
mint sprigs
2 ounces chocolate liqueur (optional)

Instructions

Cake

Prepare chocolate boxed cake as specified in a 13x9 glass pan. Once it has baked, cool for an hour and cut into cubes. Place in a covered plastic container until the rest of the ingredients are ready.

Pudding

Prepare the two packages of chocolate pudding as instructed on box and chill for 30 minutes or until set.

White Chocolate Mousse

Bring 1 cup whipping cream to a boil then add 10-12 ounces of white chocolate chips and decrease heat to medium and mix well until all melted. Cool white chocolate mixture in an ice bath for 20-30 min.

Whip 2 cups of whipping cream and 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar until they reach stiff peaks. Fold the white chocolate mixture into the whipped cream until well combined. Add 1 cup crushed peppermint candies and mix well.

Assemble the trifle

Add half of the chocolate cake cubes to the bottom of trifle

Place a third of the white chocolate mousse on top of the cake

Add half of the chocolate pudding on top of the mousse

Repeat again with the same order ending with the rest of the white chocolate mousse.

Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top

Crushed peppermint candies

Mint Sprigs

Cool in the fridge overnight and serve the next day

OPTIONAL

At the cake layers, add 1 ounce of coffee liqueur to the cake