Berry-licious Chocolate Xmas Trifle

Ingredients:

For the chocolate cake layer:

• 2 cups of almond meal (make your own by pulsing your blanched almonds in a food processor to rough flour)
• ¼ – ½ cup of raw cacao powder (depending how dark chocolatey you like your cakes to be)
• ½ tsp of gluten-free baking powder (make your own with 2 tsp of cream of tartar and 1 tsp of baking soda)
• Small pinch of good quality sea salt
• 1 tsp of pure vanilla bean powder, ground and unsweetened
• 1 tsp of cinnamon, ground and unsweetened
• ½ cup of rice malt syrup
• 1/3 – ½ cup of coconut oil (depending on how rich you like it)
• 4 eggs, free-range
• ¼ – 1/3 cup of almond or coconut mylk, full fat and unsweetened
• 1/2

 

For the berry layer:

• 3 cups of strawberries, fresh or frozen and sliced
• 3 cups of raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup of blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup of blackberries, fresh or frozen
• Zest of 2 organic oranges
• 5-6 TBSP of freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 TBSP of chia seeds
• Optional: 1-2 tsp of rice malt syrup (I personally think this layer is sweet enough without added sugar but this might just be me)

 

For the coconut cream layer:

• 4 small tins of coconut cream, full fat and chilled overnight (for a lighter version use coconut yoghurt instead)
• 1 tsp of pure vanilla bean, ground

 

For the topping:

• ½ cup of pistachios
• 2 Handfuls of fresh mint leaves

 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line your baking dish with paper (use a square or loaf shaped pan, so you can cut baked chocolate cake into little cubes later).
2. To make your chocolate cake: In a large bowl mix all your dry ingredients together. In a smaller bowl whisk all your wet ingredients together. Add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour into your prepared baking dish and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until ready. Set aside to cool. Once cooled use 6 slices of cake to make 6 trifles and cut into little bite sized cubes.
3. To make your berry layer: Use 2 cups of the strawberries and blend with 2 cups of the raspberries, add orange zest, chia seeds, orange juice and rice malt syrup if using and mix until pureed. Add all other frozen or fresh mixed berries to your berry puree and combine. Set your berry mixture aside (keep chilled until ready to serve).
4. To prepare your coconut cream: get tins of chilled coconut cream out of the fridge, being careful not to shake them. Spoon hardened top layer into mixer with vanilla bean powder and whisk at high speed until peaks. Return to refrigerator and chill for another 1-2 hours.
5. Layer your trifle in 6 separate jars: starting with your first layer of chocolate cake cubes, then adding your berry layer, followed by a layer of whisked coconut cream. Repeat. Finish with a berry layer and top with pistachios and mint leaves!

It is up to your taste buds how thick you want to make each layer. I usually go crazy on those berries and keep the coconut cream and chocolate cake layers thinner, but this is of course totally up to you!!!

 

Enjoy!!!