Gluten Free & Dairy Free Chocolate Trifle

Talk about comfort food. Cake, pudding, whipping cream, and a mixed berry sauce? And on top of it being delicious and decadent comfort food, it looks gorgeous!

I made this for our Easter get together. I think this is the first gathering that everything I made was completely gluten-free and dairy-free. It was nice because I usually try to accommodate the whole crowd. It helped that other people also brought things of course, but I think that the only allergen food we had, was an angel food cake that my mother-in-law brought at the request of my son because it’s his favorite. I am dairy-free and gluten-free but my husband and son are not. My goal for the future, hopefully over the next year or so, is to get us as close to a gluten-free and dairy-free house as I can, without people freaking out. It’s a healthier way to live and there really isn’t any reason to have it around when there are so many amazing and healthier alternatives out there.

I kept forgetting to take pictures as I went along, so they’re sporadic at best.

This trifle proves that you can live a dairy-free and gluten-free life, have your cake, and eat it too.

Chocolate Trifle

1 Box Betty Crocker Gluten Free Devil’s Food Cake Mix

1 tsp Instant Coffee Crystals

1 Cup Water

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Dairy Free Butter

Make cake according to directions, except add the 1 tsp. of coffee crystals to the batter while mixing. Cool Completely, cover and refrigerate.

Dairy-Free Pudding:

The original recipe for this pudding came from a website called Covenant Natural Health Care. I changed it and added my own “flair”.

4 Cups Almond Milk (for the recipe I used 3 cups almond milk and 1 cup Mimiccreme, however, I didn’t like the flavor that theMimmicreme left. It was too nutty for my taste, I wouldn’t use it again.)

3 Tbsp. Potato Starch

1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 Cups Dairy-Free Chocolate Chips

3 Tbs. Sugar

1 Tbsp. Instant Coffee Crystals

1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla

Whisk together 1/2 cup of almond milk and the potato starch and set aside. Combine the remaining milk, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, sugar, and coffee crystals in a large saucepan.

Warm over medium heat, whisking, until chocolate chips have melted and it comes to a very low boil, careful not to heat it too fast or the milk will scald. Whisk in the potato starch mixture and cook for 10 minutes until pudding starts to thicken and begins to boil. I added a little more almond milk (1/2 cup) at this point because I thought mine was too thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into a large bowl and allow to cool on the counter for 1/2 hour.  Next, cover with plastic wrap, allowing the plastic to lay on the top of the pudding so that the pudding doesn’t form a skin. Refrigerate over night.

Mixed Berry Sauce:

1 16 oz. Bag of Frozen Mixed Berries (Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)

About 1/2 Cup Sugar

About 2 tsp. of Potato Starch

Place berries and sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium until they are completely melted and come to a boil. Stir with a spoon. Mix the potato starch with about 2 Tbs. of water and add to the berries. Bring to a boil over medium high, stirring, and allow to thicken. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and refrigerate over night.

Coconut Whipping Cream: (Make this the same day you are putting together the trifle)

I Googled Vegan Whipping Cream and this is the recipe that I settled on. I changed it of course. I would make it a bit thicker next time, I think this time I allowed a little too much of the actual coconut milk into the mixture.

1 1/2 cups full fat coconut milk, from two 13.5 oz cans (I used 3)

1/3 cup powdered sugar or to taste (I used a 1/2 cup, maybe a little more)

1 – 4 Tbsp coconut flour or tapioca flour, add 1 Tbsp at a time (I used 4 Tbs. tapioca flour)

1 Tbsp vanilla extract or to taste (I used 2 Tbsp. pure Vanilla extract)

Shaved dairy-free chocolate

Place the cans of coconut milk in the fridge over night (or longer if you wish). The coconut milk will separate from the coconut solids. Open the cans carefully and scoop out the solids from the top and place in mixing bowl. Beat the coconut cream until thick and fluffy, slowly adding in the powdered sugar and tapioca flour. Add the vanilla extract.

Remove the cake, pudding, and berry sauce from the fridge. Break off pieces of the cake and form a layer on the bottom of the trifle dish. (You’ll need two layers of cake.) Spoon half of the pudding mixture over the cake, a little less than half of the berry mixture, and half of the coconut whipping cream. Repeat the process, leaving a little whipping cream and berry mixture for the top. Shave dairy-free chocolate over the top and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.