
Gingerbread is a quintessential holiday cookie, but we’d argue that Biscoff is even better. This Belgian cookie is a specific brand of speculoos (pronounced speck-cue-lows), a traditional treat enjoyed across northern Europe. The spiced cookies are often enjoyed for the Feast of Saint Nicholas—a holiday that inspired who we now know as Santa Claus. You may be most familiar with these cookies as a beloved Delta in-flight snack. In fact, Biscoff’s partnership with the airline is what first introduced American consumers to the cookie in the 1980s. We love eating them all year long, but especially around Christmastime. So we decided to celebrate speculoos with this showstopping holiday trifle.
The base of this trifle is a cake scented with the traditional spices you’d find in speculoos: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, anise, and more. If you can’t find some of these seasonings, no sweat—just replace them with some more cinnamon.
We also incorporate some more Biscoff flavor with a cookie butter mousse. The decadent speculoos spread gets whipped with cream cheese in this recipe to become a tangy, lightly sweet layer in our trifle. Add in some whipped cream, a layer of Biscoff cookies, and a caramel drizzle to get a stunning centerpiece for your holiday dessert table.
Trifles require building several different layers as well as exercising a lot of patience, so expect to set aside some time for this dessert to come together. But, thankfully, most of the components can be made in advance. And you can (and should) assemble the trifle at least a few hours before serving, so you can focus the rest of your energy on cooking your holiday dinner.
Did you try making this? Let us know how it went in the comments!
Ingredients
Speculoos Cake
Cooking spray
- 2 cups
(240 g.) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp.
ground cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp.
baking soda
- 1/2 tsp.
kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp.
ground anise
- 1/4 tsp.
ground cardamom
- 1/4 tsp.
ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp.
ground nutmeg
- 1 cup
(215 g.) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup
(1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2
large eggs
- 1 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup
buttermilk, divided
Cookie Butter Mousse
- 14 oz.
(1 jar) store-bought Biscoff cookie butter
- 12 oz.
cream cheese, softened
Kosher salt
- 3/4 cup
heavy cream
Whipped Cream
- 3 cups
heavy cream
- 3 Tbsp.
confectioners’ sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp.
pure vanilla extract
Assembly
- 1
pkg. Biscoff cookies (16 cookies)
- 1/2 cup
store-bought or homemade caramel sauce
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions
Cake
- Step 1Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8" cake pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, anise, cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg until combined.
- Step 2In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer (or in the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), beat brown sugar and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
- Step 3Add about half of dry ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Add half of buttermilk and beat until mostly combined. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in remaining dry ingredients until just combined, then beat in remaining buttermilk. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Step 4Bake cake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
- Step 5Carefully invert cake onto a wire rack and let cool in pan at least 30 minutes before removing pan. Let cool completely. Slice cake in half through the equator to make 2 circular pieces.
- Step 6Make Ahead: Cake can be made 5 days ahead. Let cool, then tightly wrap, unsliced, in plastic wrap and refrigerate, or freeze up to 1 month.
Cookie Butter Mousse
- Step 1In a medium bowl, using handheld mixer (or in the large bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat cookie butter, cream cheese, and a pinch of salt on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Step 2With the motor running, slowly pour in heavy cream and continue to beat until thoroughly combined.
- Step 3Make Ahead: Mousse can be made 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. Bring mousse to room temperature and beat with a whisk until fluffy and spreadable, about 3 minutes.
Whipped Cream
- Step 1In a medium bowl, using handheld mixer (or in the large bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat cream, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes.
- Step 2Make Ahead: Whipped cream can be made 1 day ahead. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. You may need to whisk whipped cream a few minutes to recombine the separated cream.
Assembly
- Step 1Using the circumference of your trifle dish as a guide, trim 2 cakes to fit the dish.
- Step 2Spread 1/2 cup whipped cream on bottom of dish, then gently place 1 cake slice on top. Top cake with about half of cookie butter mousse.
- Step 3Arrange cookies upright along perimeter of dish (depending on the dimensions of your dish, that may take anywhere from 10 to 14 cookies).
- Step 4Spoon 1 1/2 cups whipped cream in the center of dish. Using a butter knife or offset spatula, gently guide cream between each cookie. Drizzle about 1/4 cup caramel sauce on top.
- Step 5Gently place second cake slice on top, then add remaining cookie butter mousse. Using a spatula or piping bag, top trifle with remaining whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours or up to overnight.
- Step 6Before serving, drizzle trifle with more caramel sauce. Decorate surface with 2 more cookies, then dust with confectioners’ sugar.