Black Forest Trifle (Vegan Gluten-Free)

This Black Forest Trifle is the chocolatey and cherry dream dessert, perfect for sharing as a showstopper centrepiece. It has vegan, gluten-free and healthier layers of brownie chocolate cake, yoghurt custards and homemade cherry compote.

I just love everything about chocolate and cherry and so when thinking about a showstopper dessert for Christmastime, it only seemed natural to veer towards this classic combination. That said, it has a healthier, more nourishing twist as we have a more wholesome chocolate brownie-style cake, protein yoghurt based custard mixes and homemade cherry compote. The layers are just as luxurious and indulgent as cream and butter based dessert, but knowing it’s made with wholesome ingredients, makes this feel even better. My family loved this one, saying it’s one of the best desserts I’ve made all year – so high praise, indeed.

Why will I love this trifle?

This dessert is so amazing:

• A showstopper centrepiece dessert for all the family
• Rich, chocolatey and indulgent
• Fruity, creamy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious
• Nostalgic with a fun twist
• Naturally vegan, egg-free and dairy-free
• Easily nut-free and gluten-free
• Made with wholesome, lighter ingredients
• Full of gut healthy ingredients
• Has a simple method
• Easy to make and eat the same day or to prepare ahead of time
• Makes a delicious dessert for Christmas
• Great all year round
• Uses store-cupboard and freezer/fridge ingredients

If you already love the sound of this dessert then skip ahead to the recipe card below. Or, first let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.

What ingredients do I need?

The ingredients are all listed by weight in the recipe card below and you can see my favourites in the “shop the recipe” section.

For the chocolate cake:

• Plant-based milk and apple cider vinegar: this mixture curdles, forming a buttermilk which binds the egg-free cake mix.
• Coconut sugar: for sweetness. You can also use light brown sugar or white or golden caster sugar.
• Thick coconut yoghurt: this is key to a lovely fudgy sponge cake so make sure the yoghurt is thick like Greek-style. I use the Cocos Organic natural or vanilla yoghurt.
• Olive oil: adds moisture, fat and richness to the cake without any butter.
• Self-raising flour: makes this cake nice and fluffy but still moist and tender., If you’re gluten-free, use a gluten-free 1:1 baking flour alterative ideally with xanthan gum, or similar.
• Cacao powder: to make the batter really rich and chocolatey. I use the organic cacao powder from Food Thoughts for this recipe which is light, fruity yet rich and chocolatey.
• Ground almonds: adds a lovely nuttiness and moist texture. If making this nut-free, use extra flour.
• Raising agents and salt: for the rise.
• Espresso coffee: this works magic in chocolate cakes, to add richness, depth and to allow the cacao powder to bloom, This enhances the natural chocolate flavour and if you prefer, you can use decaf coffee, too.
• Dark chocolate chips: to add a double chocolate element to the cake. I use the luxury ones from Food Thoughts which are so good but you can also chop up a bar of chocolate, too, or use dairy-free milk chocolate.

For the homemade cherry compote:

• Frozen cherries (or fresh): as it’s wintertime, I use a bag of frozen cherries which is much cheaper and easier, too. Make sure to defrost the cherries first and remove all the excess liquid before making the compote, otherwise it will be too wet. You can drink the liquid or add to smoothies.
• Maple syrup: this allows the compote to turn nice and sticky without adding too much sugar (just 4 tbsp for the whole thing). You can use other syrups too like agave.
• Orange zest: this adds a lovely orange flavour to the compote, but if you don’t have any, it’s just as delicious without it.
• Vanilla essence: adds a vanilla sweetness.
• Cinnamon: for flavour.

And for the custards:

• Thick coconut yoghurt: as above.
• Cacao powder: for the chocolate custard.
• Chocolate and vanilla protein powders: these are essential to thickening the mixes so that the layers are perfectly smooth, thick and luscious. The chocolate protein is for the cacao custard and the vanilla protein is for the vanilla custard – I use the ones from Form nutrition.
• Maple syrup: to make the custards smooth and naturally a little sweeter.

For the layers, I added some chocolate coated cacao nibs for crunch which are so delicious but you can use other chocolate chips. I always add some fresh cherries on top and a dusting of cacao powder, too.

Is this gluten-free and nut-free?

This dessert is easily gluten-free as long as you use gluten-free self-raising flour. To keep this nut-free, swap the ground almonds for more flour and check all your other ingredients like yoghurt, chocolate and protein powder.

How do I make this?

This dessert is a showstopper but is actually simple to make.

• For the cake layer:
  • Whisk together the wet ingredients until smooth
  • Sift in the dry ingredients
  • Add in the espresso and chocolate chips
  • Pour into a tin and bake until springy
  • Allow the cake to cool and slice into squares
• For the cherry compote:
  • Defrost the cherries and drain away the excess liquid
  • Add all of the ingredients to a pan and bubble away for 20 minutes or until really sticky
  • Allow to cool down fully
• For the custard mixes:
  • Whisk the yoghurt, cacao powder, chocolate protein and maple for the chocolate custard
  • Make the vanilla custard with the yoghurt, vanilla protein and maple syrup
• To assemble the trifle:
  • Start with a layer or chocolate cake
  • Spoon over half the compote
  • Add spoons of both custards and swirl together
  • Sprinkle over some chocolate nibs
  • Repeat with another layer of each
  • Top with fresh cherries and a sprinkling cacao powder
• To enjoy:
  • dive in straight away
  • or cover tightly and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days

How long will this last?

This trifle last about 24 hours in my house, but you can cover and keep the dessert in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can also make the cake ahead of time and wrap tightly to freeze for 1 month. Allow to defrost before making the rest of the dessert.

What else can I make?

If you’re looking for more festive dessert ideas:

• Chocolate Chip Gingerbread Layer Cake
• Chocolate Gingerbread Caramel Chestnut Cheesecake
• Vegan Orange Champagne Bundt Cake
• Vegan Gingerbread Tiramisu
• Vegan Black Forest Tiramisu

Shop the recipe

Stay in touch

I look forward to hearing what you think of this Black Forest Trifle so please let me know in the comments below and leave a star review above. If you do make this, I’d love to see so please tag me, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With trifles of love x

p.s. this recipe was first made with Food Thoughts although this blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own.