If you love eggnog, you're going to adore this eggnog dessert. This NO BAKE Mini Eggnog Trifle is the ideal winter trifle recipe and the perfect holiday dessert for your New Year's Eve or holiday celebrations!
It's an indulgent, yet light-tasting trifle with layers of chocolate cake, rum and eggnog mousse, and whipped cream. It's family-friendly (using rum extract) and quick and easy to make. But the best part is the sparkly edible gold candy pearl garnish! This recipe is especially popular during the holiday season and a real crowd pleaser!
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I love trifle because it's not a heavy dessert so it's ideal for enjoying after a big holiday meal. Although this eggnog trifle will make the perfect addition to your New Year's Eve celebration, they are great for any holiday celebration. We had them for our Christmas dinner dessert and they were a huge hit.
🥘 Ingredients
I'm usually preparing a lot of meals around the holidays, as well as doing a great deal of baking, so it's nice to have a festive dessert option that requires NO BAKING! These mini trifles are made using store- bought cake and vanilla pudding so they are easy to throw together. But best of all they are bright, festive and scream C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N!
- chocolate cake (pound, loaf or store-bought or homemade)
- vanilla instant pudding
- milk
- egg nog * I use light eggnog
- toffee bits (I use Skor)
- rum extract
- whipping cream (heavy cream)
- white granulated sugar
- gold edible candy mini pearls (affiliate link)
*see recipe card for quantities
📖Variations & Substitutions
- Whipped cream: you can use Cool Whip instead of homemade whipped cream
- Chocolate cake: you can use any type of store-bought or homemade chocolate cake such as Chocolate pound cake, Old Fashioned Sour Cream Chocolate Cake , Chocolate Sponge Cake or Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake
💭What is the Difference Between Trifle and Parfait
Traditionally, a trifle is an English dessert made from a mixture of thick custard, fruit, sponge cake, jelly and whipped cream and a parfait is a French iced dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, cream, and flavoring (usually fruit, and sometimes with liqueur.) However in North America, there is little difference between the two these days. And a trifle or parfait have come to be known as any layered dessert in a glass or glass bowl. While they were once different, they are now used interchangeably. But because this dessert is closer to a traditional trifle, I'm calling it a trifle.
If you're looking for New Year's Eve dessert ideas for your family or a romantic dinner for two, these eggnog trifles are ideal! Our family tradition is to have a selection of mini and finger foods on New Year's Eve and this dessert fits in perfectly with that plan! We have a mixture of store-bought treats (like cream puffs) and homemade cream puff dessert. I also like to make my Raspberry Tiramisu Tarts (shown) and Caramel Apple Betty Dessert Shooters for the dessert buffet portion. But if you LOVE eggnog and want more, try my Mocha Eggnog Cheesecake Bars! *See the bottom of this post (under the recipe card) for more New Year's Eve finger food suggestions.
👪 Serving size
This creamy eggnog trifle recipe makes 4 servings but you can change the number of servings by clicking on the blue serving size in the recipe card and selecting the number of servings you prefer. The ingredient amounts will then adjust accordingly.
🌡️Storage
Ideally, it's best to make this mini trifle just prior to serving, but you can make this a day in advance. However, I do not recommend making any earlier than that. You can store leftovers for up to 2 days in the fridge in a sealed container (even sealing the top of the glass with plastic wrap will suffice.)
Eggnog mousse is a delicious dessert that's simple to make with instant pudding and whipped cream. And the addition of the whipped cream cuts down on the sweetness from the pudding and toffee bits. It also makes the texture lighter.
🍽 Equipment
I make this Eggnog Dessert using stemless wine glasses (affiliate link) because it's practical and you don't have to buy any special glasses. However, you can use a parfait glass, mason jars, dessert shot glass or almost any type of glass you desire. But if you want to make it really FUN, I recommend these individual trifle bowls! (affiliate link). You can also serve these in a smaller glass. These wine glasses are 16 oz/2 cup portions. You will also need an electric mixer (affiliate link) *See recipe card for equipment photos and links
💭Top Tip
You can use any brand or type of gold pearls or edible glitter for the garnish. You can buy them at hobby and cake decorating store (Michael's in Canada) or through Amazon. Just double check to ensure they are edible. Also note that most gold and silver Dragees are safe to decorate with but NOT edible!
So, if you're looking for the perfect Christmas dessert, New Year's Eve Dessert ideas for your holiday party. This eggnog trifle is perfect is you are short on time or simply don't feel like baking.
My son is an eggnog lover and he claims, "eggnog lovers will LOVE this dessert!" However, I loved them and I'm pretty neutral about eggnog, so they are bound to be popular with your crew, whether or not they are eggnog crazy!
And if you love eggnog and are looking for additional eggnog desserts, be sure to try my Mocha Eggnog Cheesecake Bars (shown) and my Eggnog & Baileys Irish Cream Cookies!
⭐ COMMENTS & REVIEWS
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Happy New Year!
📋 Mini Eggnog Trifle Recipe
Equipment
- individual trifle bowls (or stemless wine glasses)
Ingredients
- 150 gram chocolate pound or loaf cake store-bought or home-made 5-6 ounces * about ½ a cake (I freeze the other half for future use)
- 102 gram of box vanilla instant pudding 3.5 ounce box
- ¾ cup 1% milk
- 1 cup eggnog * I use the light eggnog
- 2 tablespoons toffee bits * I use Skor, but you can use Heath or any brand
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
Garnish
- gold edible candy mini pearls *See NOTES for details
- toffee bits
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine instant vanilla pudding mix with eggnog, cold milk, and rum extract. Beat as per pudding package directions. Add in toffee bits. Refrigerate until pudding is firm, about 5-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, beat whipping cream on medium speed for several minutes until soft peaks form then on high speed, then fold sugar in. Continue beating on high until stiff peaks form.
- Take 2 cups of the whipped cream and fold into the prepared eggnog pudding, stir to combine.
- Set aside the remaining whipped cream (this will be your garnish/topping)
- Layer cake cubes (cake pieces) on the bottom of glass, then pudding mixture,
- Then more cake, leaving enough room for whipped cream topping. Repeat for remaining glasses.
- Use a pastry bag, fitted with a 1M tip to pipe on whipped cream topping (or spoon it on)
Garnish
- Sprinkle with additional toffee bits and gold edible candy pearls!
Notes
Nutrition
🎉More New Year's Eve Recipes!
Terri Gilson
We had this egg nog trifle for our first Christmas dinner (alone) during Covid. We all loved that it has festive flavors, but was light and delicious!