Trifle!

I'm not sure how the tradition began, but growing up my family would always eat trifle for dessert on New Year's Eve. This year - the first year in our own very house - my husband and I were celebrating with a few new friends and I wanted to keep the tradition going.

I called up my Mom, tweaked a few things from her recipe and here is mine: a dense, decadent New Year's treat. It's a layer of chocolate cake, infused with espresso, topped with butterscotch pudding, topped with chocolate ganache and finished with a whipped topping with a hefty sprinkle of Toblerone.

It may have a lot of components to it, but it sure is simple to put together.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Butterscotch Trifle

For the cake: 1 package gluten free chocolate cake mix (I used King Arthur's) and 1/3 cup strong coffee or espresso

Follow the directions on the package of the cake mix. Let cool and cut cake into squares so that it will fit in a round, clear bowl (you will have some leftover cake). Poke the cake with holes and pour the coffee over the cake (Kahlua can be used here too).

For the pudding: 1 package instant butterscotch pudding (I used Jello)

Follow the directions for the pudding and pour evenly over the cake/coffee mixture.

For the ganache: 1 1/2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips & 1 cup light cream

Place the cream in a saucepan and warm until the milk is steaming. Pour the chocolate chips into a glass dish and pour the very warm cream over the chocolate. Mix until ganache-like (it should look like hot fudge). Pour that mixture over the pudding.

For the whipped topping: cool whip or freshly whipped cream

Spoon the whipped topping evenly over the ganache, making sure not to mix the topping into the ganache.

Finished with: chopped up Toblerone or toffee: sprinkle over the top - it's ready to serve.