This Irish coffee trifle is Irish coffee in dessert form. Soft cake soaked in coffee and whiskey, layered with homemade vanilla custard and clouds of whipped cream. Everything goes into pretty glasses, so you get a dessert that tastes like a weekend treat but is easy enough for a weeknight dinner party. It's perfect for Christmas, New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day when you want a little boozy dessert in a glass.
At a glance
- ⏲️ Prep time: 5 minutes • 🔥 Cook time: 25 minutes • 🍽️ Servings: 2
- 🥄 Calories: 436 kcal per serving
- ⭐ Difficulty: easy
- 🥘 Main ingredients: cake, coffee, whiskey, vanilla custard, cream, confectioners' sugar
- 📋 Why this works: real Irish coffee flavors, homemade custard, soft soaked cake, pretty individual portions, great for special nights
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Easy Irish Coffee Trifle Dessert in a Glass
You know those evenings where you finally sit down after cooking, and someone says, "Do we have dessert?" This is the one you can make while you're already in the kitchen. Custard bubbles gently on the stove, coffee and whiskey soak into the cake, and the cream whips up thick and soft. The kitchen smells like vanilla and coffee.
When you stack the layers in glasses, it suddenly looks very restaurant-fancy. First spoonful: boozy coffee cake, then silky custard, then whipped cream. At the table it usually gets quiet, apart from the clinking of spoons. This is one of those "we should make this again" desserts.
What You'll Need
Exact amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Cornstarch, sugar, milk, salt, vanilla extract: The base for a simple vanilla custard. Find your homemade vanilla extract recipe here.
- Cake slices: Plain cake or pound cake; they soak up the Irish coffee mixture.
- Coffee: Strong, hot coffee for that classic Irish coffee taste.
- Whiskey: Mixed with the coffee to soak the cake.
- Heavy cream: Whipped with confectioners' sugar until thick and fluffy.
- Confectioners sugar: Lightly sweetens the whipped cream.
- Cocoa and mocha beans (for topping): For a finishing touch and a tiny crunch.
How to Make It
You'll find the full, step-by-step recipe card below.
- Step 1: Mix cornstarch, sugar, salt, vanilla and a spoonful of milk to a paste. Heat the rest of the milk, pour it into the paste while stirring and then cook again until slightly thickened. Cool with plastic wrap on the surface.
- Step 2: Lay cake slices in a bowl and sprinkle with coffee and whiskey so they absorb the liquid.
- Step 3: In each glass, half a cake slice and a few spoons of custard.
- Step 4: Beat cream with confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks form. Dust with cocoa and garnish with mocha beans. Chill briefly if you like.
Top Tips
- Put plastic wrap directly on the custard surface so no skin forms while cooling.
- Use strong coffee; mild coffee will get lost in the cream and custard.
- Let the cake sit in the coffee-whiskey mix for a few minutes to soak fully.
- Whip cream straight from the fridge; cold cream whips faster and stays stable.
- Taste the custard for sweetness before layering; add a tiny bit more sugar if you like it sweeter.
- Make it kid-friendly by swapping whiskey for caramel syrup and using only coffee or even tea.
- Serve these in small wine glasses or tumblers, with a little extra cocoa dusted over at the table.
Did you make this delicious recipe? Tag #byandreajanssen via Instagram! I love to see what your creation looks like and regularly share the most beautiful photos of you! Did you like this recipe? Then leave a rating on the recipe card! Your feedback helps other home cooks and me enormously.
Need more inspiration?
- You can find video recipes on my YouTube channel.
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📖 Recipe
RECIPE CARD
Recipe Help
Two easy tools to make cooking even easier. Cooking mode keeps the screen on. The easy-step recipe displays the recipe step by step, including the ingredients needed. And you can adjust servings easily
Ingredients
Vanilla custard
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1½ tablespoon sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup milk
Irish coffee trifle
- 2 slices Cake
- 3 tablespoons coffee
- 1 tablespoon whiskey
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
Garnish
- Dutch unprocessed cocoa
- Mocha beans
All my recipes are written both in Metric (gram / ml) and US Customary (cups / pounds). Here you can select which type of amount you would like to see.
Instructions
Vanilla custard
- Mix cornstarch, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and one tablespoon of milk to a smooth paste.2 tablespoons cornstarch, 1½ tablespoon sugar, ⅛ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup milk
- Heat the remaining milk over low heat until it boils.
- Pour the hot milk into the paste while stirring.
- Pour back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until slightly thickened.
- Take off the heat, cover the surface with plastic wrap and let the custard cool.
Irish coffee trifle
- Lay the cake slices in a bowl and sprinkle with coffee and whiskey. Let them soak.2 slices Cake, 3 tablespoons coffee, 1 tablespoon whiskey
- Whip the cream with confectioners' sugar until stiff.½ cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar
- Put half a cake slice in each glass as the bottom layer.
- Spoon 3 tablespoons of custard on top.
- Add 2 tablespoons whipped cream.
- Place the remaining half slice of soaked cake on top.
- Add again 3 tablespoons custard and 2 tablespoons whipped cream.
- Sprinkle with cocoa and garnish with mocha beans.Dutch unprocessed cocoa, Mocha beans
Notes
- Different liqueur: Try Licor 43, coffee liqueur or Cointreau instead of whiskey.
- Budget version: Use ladyfingers instead of cake and vanilla sugar instead of extract.
- Fridge: Covered, up to 1 day. The cake will keep soaking but still taste great.
- Freezer: Not suitable for freezing; the cream and custard will separate.
- Serving: Serve well chilled, straight from the fridge.
Nutrition
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Prefer to read this in Dutch? See my Irish koffie trifle.
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