Italian Tuxedo Trifle Makes the Cut

bowl with layers of white chocolate and cream cheese cream, brownies, and sliced strawberries

It was an honor to make desserts for the East Central Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Fire & Ice formal fundraising event this year.

It was tough to make a final choice for this year’s dessert. For the 2011 event, I made Raspberry White Chocolate Truffle Baby Cheesecakes and they were a crowd favorite. This year, event organizers, Darilyn and Julie, narrowed it down to Italian Tuxedo Parfaits and Andes Mint Baby Cheesecakes. Since the night’s theme colors were an elegant black and red damask pattern, the parfaits made the cut, and we moved the Andes Mint cheesecake babies to the 2013 gala’s short list of possibilities.

bowl with layers of white chocolate and cream cheese cream, brownies, and sliced strawberries
Fresh strawberries in Italian Tuxedo Trifle

It all starts with good-quality chocolate and my favorite amaretto liqueur, which appears not to have started the day as a full bottle. Sampling my friends, sampling.

chocolate and Disaronno

A tower of butter is needed to bake enough brownies for 240 guests.

Instagram photo

We served the light desserts in petite wine glasses.

Instagram photo from event kitchen

The recipe in today’s post makes one large triffle bowl full of deliciousness. Of course, it’s always fun to serve them as individual trifles.

(A special thank you to Mike, the Brookings Hy-Vee Produce Manager, who spent part of the morning picking out some of the best strawberries with me! …and for making sure I had enough Ghirardelli white chocolate.)

Sweet wishes,

signature

Italian Tuxedo Trifle

Staci at Random Sweets
Serve this trifle in a tall glass bowl for a stunning dessert layered with amaretto brownies, strawberries and a silky white chocolate cream.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 22
Calories 473 kcal

Equipment

  • large trifle bowl

Ingredients
  

Amaretto Brownies

  • cups unsalted butter, melted, 3 sticks
  • 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs, large
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon pure almond extract or bakery emulsion
  • 4 tablespoons Italian amaretto liqueur, like Disaronno
  • 1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Silky White Cream

  • 4 oz white chocolate
  • 4 tablespoons milk
  • 16 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup powdered confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure almond extract or bakery emulsion
  • 2 cups whipped topping, thawed
  • 2 lbs fresh strawberries

Instructions
 

Amaretto Brownies

  • Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9×13 cake pan or line with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, stir together melted butter and cocoa. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs on medium speed until fluffy, about five minutes.
  • Slowly beat in the cocoa and butter mixture. Add flour, salt, almond extract and amaretto liqueur; beat just until combined.
  • Spread half of the brownie mixture in the pan. Sprinkle with the finely chopped chocolate. Carefully spread the remaining brownie batter over the chocolate all the way to the edges.
  • Bake for 35-37 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into bite-size pieces.

Silky White Cream

  • In a small saucepan over low heat, melt white chocolate and milk. Stir until melted. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Beat in powdered sugar and almond extract.
  • Slowly stir in melted white chocolate. Gently fold in whipped cream.
  • Slice most of the strawberries into bite-size pieces. You'll want to save some whole strawberries for garnish on top.
  • In a large trifle bowl, layer brownies, cream and strawberries. Repeat layers until all the ingredients are gone. Refrigerate 3 hours before serving. Can be made one day ahead.

Nutrition

Calories: 473kcalCarbohydrates: 56gProtein: 6gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 85mgSodium: 250mgPotassium: 257mgFiber: 3gSugar: 41gVitamin A: 724IUVitamin C: 24mgCalcium: 85mgIron: 2mg
Keyword amaretto, brownies, chocolate, cream cheese, strawberry, white chocolate

All text and images © Staci Mergenthal • Random Sweets

Tried this recipe?Mention @RandomSweets and tag #OurSweetMidwestLife

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18 Comments

  1. I’m making these tomorrow for my mom’s birthday. She and I are very excited. Brownies and amaretto sounds like a fabulous pairing. Is the whipped topping cool whip? I’ll report back on our sure to be happy bellies. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

      1. Absolutely delicious. My mom and I do not have adequate words for the experience eating this was. I think these will be making a repeat appearance over the holidays. The brownies alone are definite new recipe I’m adding to my brownie collection. I adore brownies; I’d give up all desserts for a lifetime of perfect brownies. In that dream, these would be featured weekly. Thanks again for sharing!

  2. Oh my goodness!! Your photos look delicious!
    Congratulations on being selected to make these wonderful Triffles for this special occasion!

  3. Staci….the Italian Tuxedo Triffles were fabulous. Everyone was still raving about them days later. I didn’t think you could top last year’s cheesecake….but you definitely came through. I can hardly wait to start taste testing for next year’s Fire & Ice event! Luckily I will get my cheesecake fix at Tanner’s graduation! Thanks so much for all of your hard work and talent in the kitchen!

  4. What an honour for you to again have been chosen to prepare the dessert for this occasion. The parfaits look so beautiful, not to mention delicious. Even though everyone in attendance must have been full after that great dinner, I’m sure they all saved room for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed it.

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