Pear Caramel Trifle
This Pear Caramel Trifle is made with sweet, juicy pears immersed in caramel sauce, layered with heavy whipping cream and brownies! You can serve this elegant dessert for any occasion, including a sweet holiday treat. Your guests will thank you!
Equipment
Ingredients
Brownies:
- 220 g Butter
- 120 g Dark chocolate
- 220 g Granulated sugar
- 100 g Brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 250 g All-purpose flour
- 20 g Cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp Espresso powder
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 4 Eggs
- 100 g Pecans chopped
Cream:
- 400 g Heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp Powdered sugar optional
Pear Caramel mixture
- 300 g Pears plus extra for decoration
- 200 g Caramel recipe here
Instructions
Caramel:
- Make the Caramel Sauce according to my recipe here! I suggest you make it the day before to give it the proper time to cool completely. If you can’t make it the day before, give it at least 3 hours to cool down. Place it in the refrigerator if needed.
Brownies:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.
- Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper. Allow it to be long enough to hang slightly over the edges. It will make it easier to take the brownies out of the dish after baking.
- In a medium size pot, melt the butter, dark chocolate, sugars, and salt over low heat. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Take it off the heat when everything is melted completely. Let it cool for 15 minutes.
- Then add the eggs and vanilla extract, and mix until fully incorporated (a hand mixer works best). You can do that directly in the pan or pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl (or stand mixer bowl).
- Sift the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder into the chocolate mixture, then add the espresso powder. Mix until just combined.
- Add the chopped pecans and stir them in until they are evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter into the lined baking dish, and with a scraper, smooth it out to have the same amount of batter across the baking dish. It helps the brownies to bake evenly.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes for a more fudgy brownie; bake it a bit longer if you prefer a cake-like brownie.
- Let the brownies cool for about 30-45 minutes before lifting them out of the baking dish, using the parchment paper overhang. Let them cool completely before assembling the Trifles.
- Cut them into small squares (to fit the size of the glass jars you are using for assembling).
- Since this is a big batch, you will likely have leftover brownies. Store the rest of the brownies in an airtight container or freeze them in a freezer container for up to two months.
Cream:
- With a hand mixer, whip the cold heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Add two tablespoons of powdered sugar if desired and mix until fully incorporated. Adding powdered sugar is optional. The caramel sauce adds a lot of sweetness to this dessert; if you don’t want to add even more sugar, leave it out.
- Place it in the refrigerator until you need it.
Pears:
- Wash the pears and peel them if you are not a fan of the skin. I usually leave the skin on, but it will be delicious either way.
- Cut the pears into small cubes and place them in a small mixing bowl.
- Add the caramel sauce to the pears and mix well. It might have hardened up if you had made the caramel sauce the day before. Place it in the microwave for a few seconds to make it liquid again. It shouldn’t be warm to prevent the whipping cream from melting when assembling the trifles.
Assemble:
- This recipe will make 8 small glass jars. I used "Oui" yogurt glasses.
- Fill the whipped cream into a pastry piping bag. If you don’t have one, you can use a gallon zip lock bag and cut off the tip for piping, or use a spoon.
- Pipe a thin layer of the whipped cream into the bottom of the glass jars.
- Add a brownie to the whipped cream. I cut my brownie in half lengthwise to achieve more layers, but if you use a bigger glass, you can use the whole brownie square.
- Spoon some of the pear-caramel mixture over the brownie. It should be enough to cover the brownie and drip down the sides to give it a lovely pattern when you look at the glass from the side.
- Then add another layer of whipped cream, a brownie, and pear caramel sauce like before.
- Top it off with a layer of whipped cream.
- Add two thin slices of pear and some cut-up brownie bites on top. Drizzle them with caramel sauce for decoration.
- Serve immediately or place them in the refrigerator until you need them.
Notes
Tips:
➙ This recipe will make about eight small glass jars. I used the Oui yogurt jars; they are a perfect size. But you can use whatever glass jars you have around.
➙ If you prefer to make just one big bowl of trifle, go for it :)
➙ Prepare the caramel sauce and the brownies the day before for a quick assembly on the day off.
➙ You can assemble the trifle in the morning or even the night before. But I would wait for the decoration part until shortly before you need them. Because the pears will turn brown after a while, making them look less appealing!
➙ They stay good for 2-3 days in the refrigerator or up to two months in the freezer. If you freeze them, cover them with aluminum foil once they are frozen to avoid freezer burn and drying out.