I can't think of a better way to start the new year, and my 12th year of blogging (wait... what??) than with my favorite kind of dessert - a trifle! It's become my thing to create a couple of new trifles every year - they are so versatile and the flavor and texture combinations are endless! This year, Matt requested something chocolatey and minty for our Christmas week trifle, and this easy peasy little beauty came together quickly and rose to our top 5 favorite trifles of all time.

Layers of dark chocolate cake chunks, a smooth and light white chocolate mousse, and crunchy pieces of chocolate mint cookies. What's not to love?

As with most of my trifles, I like to take a couple of shortcuts by using a boxed cake mix and my little secret weapon in the mousse layer... Cool Whip. Trust me, I know that using a real homemade whipped cream is unparalleled in flavor, but I find that Cool Whip holds up for longer in the refrigerator when you are either making the trifle a couple days in advance, or you know that the leftovers are going to last for a while. Often when I create a trifle it's only going to be consumed by our little family, so it takes a while to get through it!

This is one treat that is a crowd pleaser for the holidays or any time of the year. Enjoy!

Dark Chocolate Mint Trifle

Author: Erin Browne

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Scale

1 dark chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients listed on box (I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge)
1 ⅓ cups milk (can use whole, 1%, or skim)
2 tsp unflavored gelatin
½ tsp peppermint extract
8 ounces (2 bars) Ghirardelli premium baking bar white chocolate, roughly chopped
4 cups Cool Whip, thawed
Green food coloring
1 ½ 10oz packages mint fudge cookies (see notes)

Instructions

Prepare cake mix in a 9x13 pan according to package directions and allow to cool completely.
White Chocolate Mint Mousse
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the milk, gelatin, and extract. Let stand for 3 minutes, then cook on medium-high heat until bubbles begin to form around the edge (~180F). Do not allow mixture to boil.
Remove from heat, add the chocolate, and cover for 5 minutes. Then use a whisk to combine chocolate until the mixture is smooth.
Pour mixture into a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.
Once chilled, add a few drops of green food coloring and stir the mixture until lumps are mostly smoothed out. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the Cool Whip until fully combined. Do not whisk or beat. The chocolate mixture may still be thin so it may seem like it won't come together, but keep working at it gently until it's all one color.
Cover the mixture and chill for 3 hours until fully set.
Assemble the Trifle:
In a large, deep glass trifle bowl, cover the bottom with chunks of the cooled dark chocolate cake. Spread half of the white chocolate mousse over the cake chunks and then sprinkle with a layer of broken cookie chunks. Repeat with another layer of cake and mousse and sprinkle the top with more cookies. Decorate the edges with whole or halved cookies, as desired. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Notes

I used Kroger brand Mint Fudge Cookies. You can also use Girl Scouts Thin Mints, Keebler Grasshopper, or even mint Oreos, but the amounts listed here may be a little different. You can add as many or as few cookie chunks as you wish.

You may not have room for the entire cake, depending on the size of your trifle bowl. I place the extra into a Ziploc bag and freeze it for when I need a quick cake fix!