Breaking trifle tradition with a chocolatey twist! Vanilla cake, chocolate custard, berries, and coconut cream. Simple vegan summer dessert!

Berry Chocolate Trifle (vegan + paleo friendly)

If there was ever a dessert where the whole is greater than a sum of its parts, it would be this layered cake + custard + berries + cream classic right here. And once you make the custard layer a CHOCOLATE custard layer…I just don’t think I can go back now.

How To Make The Best Vegan Trifle

Dairy-free, grain-free, paleo-friendly, and truly quite simple. But we have a few layers to discuss…

Grain-Free Vegan Vanilla Cake

Now of course you can use any recipe for vanilla cake that you love, or even a boxed cake mix if you wish. Traditionally trifles are made with a more dense cake like pound cake, but I used my favorite vegan and paleo vanilla cupcake recipe baked in an 8×8″ square cake pan. You really only need half of the cake to make 4 trifles, so save the rest for snacking or ice cream sundae making or future trifle endeavors (it freezes well too!) I recommend baking a day ahead of time, chilling overnight, and then cubing the next day.

Dairy-Free Chocolate Custard

And this is where we reeeeeeeally bend the trifle rules and swap the typical plain or slightly lemony custard for chocolate. It’s essentially like making a stovetop chocolate pudding, so we are using almond milk, arrowroot, cocoa powder, vanilla, etc. It cooks quite fast, just a few minutes of boiling and whisking, but it needs to cool completely before assembling the trifles so again best to make the day before. (Also feel free to scrap the rest of this entire recipe and just eat this portion by itself with a spoon!)

Berries and Coconut Whipped Cream

Berries need to explanation, just a few cups of whatever combination of fresh summer berries your love. I used blueberries, raspberries, and sliced strawberries.

And the coconut whipped cream is very simple too. Lightly sweetened with a tablespoon of agave or honey and a little bit of vanilla, then whipped until smooth and fluffy. If it thins out too much while whipping, chill for 30 minutes to re-thicken.

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