Caramel Brownie Trifle

This caramel brownie trifle recipe is one of my favorite desserts! It has fudge brownie, caramel sauce, and a sweet vanilla mousse in the middle. This brownie trifle is an easy trifles recipe to make and will have your guests drooling!

I am all about easy dessert recipes for the holidays. But easy doesn’t have to come at the cost of looking decadent and stunning!

Your guests are going to LOVE this trifle dessert! It has the fudge brownie, caramel sauce, and vanilla cream working so beautifully together to create chocolatey goodness that your guests will continue to come back to!

Before you begin making this delicious caramel brownie trifle you will need to purchase a large trifle dish. They are fairly inexpensive and can be purchased at Target, Walmart, or Amazon. You can also check your local grocery store. I bought mine on Amazon and I absolutely love it! This serving dish gives the trifle a show stopping and elegant appearance sitting on the table waiting to be indulged in! If you do not wish to buy a large trifle dish, I have also seen this dessert layered in a big glass bowl.

Using glass shows off the stunning layers of this layered dessert!

What Ingredients do I need to Make Caramel Brownie Trifle?

I love that this recipe can be made in parts, and all the parts are manageable. There are three parts to this recipe: the brownie, the vanilla mousse (cream), and the caramel sauce. Let’s look at what you will need for all of these parts.

For the brownie part you will need:

Unsalted butter: The butter will need to be melted and then cooled just a bit. You don’t want it boiling hot when you start mixing your ingredients.

Eggs: All four eggs will need to be at room temperature for this recipe

Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: You can use any store bought cocoa powder for this recipe. I used Hershey cocoa powder.

Chocolate chips: The chocolate chips will give the brownie a nice gooey gooey fudgy brownies taste. You can use either milk chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate chips.

You will also need:

• Vegetable oil
• Granulated Sugar
• Light Brown Sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• All-purpose flour
• Salt
• Baking powder

For the Vanilla Mousse you will need:

Heavy Whipping Cream

Vanilla Bean Paste: I suggest vanilla bean paste, because the flavor will hold better in the mousse. It also does not add more liquid to the mousse because it is thicker than regular vanilla extract.

Powdered Sugar: The powdered sugar will sweeten the mousse making it delicious!

For the Caramel Sauce you will need:

• Granulated sugar
• Salt
• Water
• Heavy Cream
• Butter, cubed
• Vanilla Extract

NOTE: If you want to make a salted caramel sauce, add flaky salt or course sea salt.

How to make a Caramel Brownie Trifle

Okay, let’s dive into making this decadent holiday dessert!

First we will make the fudge brownie layer!

This has become my favorite homemade brownie recipe! It’s so gooey and chocolatey, and tastes great by itself.

To make the brownie layer of this caramel brownie trifle first, heat oven to 325 degrees F. Then spray a 8 inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Next, in a medium bowl mix together the melted butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.

Then, stir in the vanilla. Once the vanilla is mixed in, with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon mix in the eggs one at a time. after adding an egg stir vigorously to break up the egg and get it all mixed in.

When all the eggs are mixed in and the batter looks thick, add the flour and baking soda and stir until well incorporated. Make sure there are no flour pockets or clumps in the batter.

Stir in the chocolate chips!

Lastly, pour the brownie batter into the prepared pan and spread the brownie batter around evenly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. You will know the brownies are done when a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan before adding to the trifle dish.

NOTE: If you do not have time to make homemade brownies, you can use boxed brownie mix instead.

Now let’s make the vanilla mousse!

Pour the whipping cream into a medium bow. Using an electric mixer  on high speed, beat the whipping cream until stiff peaks form. This will take a little time, so be patient with it. As you are mixing, you will see the whipping cream begin to thicken up. You will know you have stiff peaks when you lift the mixer out of the cream mixture (off of course) and peaks stay standing up and do not flop over.

Once the cream has stiff peaks, add vanilla bean paste and powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until fully blended.

Put vanilla mousse in an airtight container and chill for two hours. Keep in the fridge until you are ready to use or the mousse will melt.

When the vanilla mousse is close to being chilled, start making the caramel sauce.

First, heat the granulated sugar and salt in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cover this mixture with water.

Stir sugar mixture consistently with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. The sugar will start to form clumps, but will eventually melt into a thick amber color liquid as you continue to stir.

Do not walk away from the stove as you are making this! It has a tendency to burn easily.

Once the sugar is completely melted, immediately stir in the butter until melted and combined.

NOTE: if you notice the butter and sugar are separating, remove from heat and whisk vigorously until it all comes back together. Add back to heat when all the clumps are gone.

Once the butter has melted, cook for 1 minute without stirring.

Slowly stir in the heavy cream. After the heavy cream is combined, stop stirring and let mixture boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and allow to slightly cool before using.

NOTE: This homemade caramel sauce can easily be turned into caramel candies by cooling completely and cutting into desired pieces. You can also make this a sea salt caramel sauce by stirring in sea salt.

NOTE: Ads the caramel cools, it will thicken and harden. To soften back up, heat in the oven for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until it is back to a liquid state.

NOW, you are ready to assemble the caramel brownie trifle!

How to Assemble a Caramel Brownie Trifle

First, break up the brownies into small pieces. They do not need to be super small, but you want them smaller than a regular brownie slice. I like to use a fork or my clean hands to break everything up. Pieces will be irregular, but that’s the fun of it!

Next, grab your trifle dish and let’s start layering!

The first layer will be a layer of brownies. Place half of brownie chunks on the bottom of the trifle dish.

Next, layer half of the vanilla mousse.

Then, drizzle caramel sauce over the vanilla mousse layer. Be sure to get some caramel along the sides of the trifle dish, so your guests can see the caramel from the outside of the glass dish.

Repeat layers until all the ingredients are gone. Try to make each layer an even layer, but no need to make them perfect!

How to store a Caramel Brownie Trifle

Store this trifle covered with plastic wrap and in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Make sure to tag me @raesbakeryblog on Instagram and comment below if you make this caramel brownie trifle recipe. 

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Coffee and Brownies, 

Ashley Rae