Breaking trifle tradition with a chocolatey twist! Vanilla cake, chocolate custard, berries, and coconut cream. Simple vegan summer dessert!
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.
More Berry Recipes You’ll Love
- Vegan Berry Yogurt Cake
- Vegan Berry Crumb Bars (grain-free)
- Fudgy Raspberry Brownies
- Strawberry Tahini Ice Cream Pops
Berry Chocolate Trifle
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Chilling Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 trifles 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
Breaking trifle tradition with a chocolatey twist! Vanilla cake, chocolate custard, berries, and coconut cream. Simple vegan summer dessert!
Ingredients
- 1 8×8” square of your favorite vanilla cake (or boxed mix)
- 1 cup strawberries, sliced
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup blueberries
Coconut Whipped Cream
- 1 can coconut cream, chilled at least 24 hours
- 1 tbsp agave or maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Custard
- 2 cups (240g) almond milk
- 1/3 cup (50g) coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp (22g) arrowroot
- 1/3 cup (35g) cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Bake the cake, chill overnight, then cut into 1” cubes*.
- Prepare the custard: Whisk together coconut sugar, arrowroot, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium saucepan. Add almond milk and whisk to combine. Heat on medium, whisking frequently, until it begins to boil. Boil 2-3 minutes, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat, transfer to a glass bowl, place a piece of plastic wrap on top touching the top surface of the custard. Refrigerate overnight (or at least 8 hours).
- Prepare the coconut whipped cream: Scoop out the solid part from the can of coconut cream. Whip with a hand beater until smooth and fluffy. Add sweetener and vanilla, whip until combined. If it gets too thin while mixing, refrigerate 30 minutes to re-thicken.
- Assemble the trifles: layer chunks of cake, chocolate custard, berries, whipped cream. Repeat until the dish(es) are filled to the top.
- Eat!
Notes
*You will have extra cake, you can only cube half of it and save the rest.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 trifle
- Calories: 339
- Sugar: 29g
- Sodium: 318mg
- Fat: 4g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 45g
- Fiber: 6g
- Protein: 4g
Keywords: gluten free, easy, summer, berries, dessert, dairy free, healthy, pudding, custard
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