Brownie Peppermint Bark Pudding Trifle

First pasteles batch of the 2023 season. The retirement batch. The one I had more time for than any of the previous thirty-four years. I started Thursday and worked through Saturday. The pasteles process does not shrink just because you have time; it takes the time it takes. But this year I was not rushing between hospital shifts and home batches. This year I just made pasteles, slowly, with the radio on, with Eduardo in and out of the kitchen, with Mami on the stool on Saturday afternoon supervising.

Thirty pasteles in the first batch. I will do forty more before Christmas Eve. The freezer is clearing to receive them.

Rosa drove up Saturday with Camila, now two years old, walking fully, saying half-sentences, obsessed with the kitchen. Camila stood next to me at the counter on a step stool Eduardo had bought specifically for her, and she watched me grate the yautía, and she said, "Abuela, can I help?" I gave her a peeled green banana and a wooden spoon and told her she could mash. She mashed. She mashed for fifteen minutes, focused, her little tongue out the corner of her mouth. She made no progress on the green banana. But she was mashing. The chain is starting in her.

Jenny came Saturday too with Isabella (three and a half, very opinionated) and Mateo (ten months, standing, babbling). Sofía came after a clinical. Mami came via Eduardo from her apartment. Six women in the kitchen, four generations. Isabella was too young to help, too old to sit still. She stood on a chair and told us all about what she had learned in pre-K that week — the number five, the color purple, a song about a monkey. Nobody corrected her timing. We let her talk. A three-and-a-half-year-old running commentary next to thirty pasteles being assembled by her grandmothers and great-grandmother is the most on-brand Delgado-Ortiz Saturday kitchen moment I have ever had.

At one point Mami, on the stool, said, "Your grandmother would be proud." She said it to me, but loud enough for everyone. Rosa heard. Jenny heard. Sofía heard. Isabella heard. Camila, mashing, did not hear. Mateo, in the high chair, eating cheese, did not hear. But six generations from now, Isabella's great-granddaughter might hear it — because I am writing it down, because the notebook records things like this.

By Saturday night, twenty-four pasteles were tied and frozen. The kitchen smelled like achiote and pork and banana leaves. My hands smelled like achiote and pork and banana leaves. Eduardo said, "You smell like Christmas." I said, "I know. I always do." He kissed my cheek. Wepa.

By the time twenty-four pasteles were tied and in the freezer and Eduardo was calling the kitchen “Christmas-scented,” we still had six people in the house and nobody wanted to leave — not even Isabella, who had finally run out of things to teach us about the number five. So I made dessert. This Brownie Peppermint Bark Pudding Trifle has become our end-of-pasteles-day ritual almost as much as the pasteles themselves: something cool and sweet and layered and easy, built in a bowl while the banana leaves are still on the counter. It is the reward for a three-day kitchen weekend, and it is exactly right for that moment when the work is done and the family has not yet scattered.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 50 minutes (plus chilling) | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 box (18–19 oz) brownie mix, plus ingredients listed on box (typically eggs, oil, water)
2 boxes (3.9 oz each) instant chocolate pudding mix
4 cups whole milk
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
8 oz peppermint bark, roughly chopped or broken into pieces
1/2 cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies
1 teaspoon pure peppermint extract (optional, for extra peppermint flavor)

Instructions

Bake the brownies. Prepare and bake the brownie mix according to package directions in a 9x13-inch pan. Allow to cool completely, then cut into 1-inch cubes.
Make the pudding. In a large bowl, whisk together the instant chocolate pudding mixes and 4 cups of cold whole milk for about 2 minutes until thickened. If using peppermint extract, stir it in now. Refrigerate for 5 minutes to set.
Fold in whipped topping. Gently fold half of the whipped topping into the pudding until just combined, keeping the mixture light and airy.
Layer the trifle. In a large trifle bowl or deep glass dish, arrange half of the brownie cubes in an even layer on the bottom. Spoon half of the pudding mixture over the brownies and spread gently to the edges.
Add peppermint bark. Scatter half of the chopped peppermint bark evenly over the pudding layer.
Repeat the layers. Add the remaining brownie cubes, then the remaining pudding mixture, then the rest of the peppermint bark pieces.
Top and finish. Dollop or spread the remaining whipped topping over the top layer. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes generously over the whipped topping for color and crunch.
Chill before serving. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to overnight) to allow the layers to meld. Serve cold, scooping through all layers into each bowl.

Nutrition (per serving)

Brownie Peppermint Bark Pudding Trifle — Something Sweet for the Christmas Kitchen