- Every year I like to create what I call
a Showstopper Dessert on my website.
It's not only a delicious recipe
because that's a given, but it's also sure to impress,
which makes it perfect for any party,
holiday, or a gathering.
Some previous examples of these recipes
include my paleo chocolate cake,
vegan caramel cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake,
and gluten-free carrot cake.
This year though, I wanted to do something
I haven't yet done before on my website,
and that's a trifle recipe.
But this isn't any old trifle.
This is a brownie trifle layered with rich,
chocolatey brownie, smooth chocolate chia pudding mouse,
and fluffy coconut whipped cream.
But here's what's even better.
This amazing brownie trifle recipe
is gluten free, dairy free, paleo,
and vegan friendly.
It's extremely easy to make
and pretty much fool proof thanks to a little help
from my friends at Simple Mills,
who I'm happy to partner with on today's video.
So let's dive in, and I'll show you
how to make this showstopper dessert.
We'll start by making
the chocolate chia pudding mouse first,
as it needs at least a couple of hours
in the fridge to cool.
You can also make both the chocolate mousse
and coconut whipped cream the day ahead
as I've done on this video
to make your life easier in the kitchen.
So add three cups of milk
to your high powered blender.
I'm using my homemade cashew milk,
but you can use your favorite nut milk
or regular milk if you're not trying
to make this recipe dairy free.
Then add three-quarters cup of chia seeds.
And you guys have seen me make chia pudding
numerous times, but for this recipe, we'll blend
the chia seeds for an ultra smooth texture.
Add six tablespoons of maple syrup,
six tablespoons of cacao powder,
and three teaspoons of vanilla extract.
If you look up my chocolate chia pudding mousse recipe
on my website, this is one and a half times that recipe,
as we need a little bit more mousse for this trifle.
Add the lid to your blender and then blend it on high
for about a minute or until it's nice and creamy.
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You'll notice when you pour the mousse into a bowl
that it's already nice and thick
thanks to the chia seeds.
And it will firm up a smidge more once it's chilled.
So cover the bowl and set it in the fridge
for at least a couple of hours or overnight.
All right, let's make some coconut cream.
You need four cans of full fat coconut milk
that have chilled in the fridge
at least 24 to 48 hours.
After the cans have chilled,
the milk will separate and the hardened coconut cream
will rise to the surface
and the coconut water will be left on the bottom.
What you wanna do is scoop out the firm layer
of coconut cream and place it in a bowl.
So fun fact for those of you who might be new around here.
The very first video I ever uploaded
to my YouTube channel was a video
on how to make coconut whipped cream.
I've been making it for years,
and it's a great option for those who are dairy free.
Once you've scooped out all of the coconut cream,
you're left with the coconut water.
Don't throw this out.
Just refrigerate it
and add it to your next smoothie.
There are many ways you can sweeten
your coconut whipped cream,
including maple syrup, honey, powdered sugar,
stevia, monk fruit, and others.
I'm adding a couple tablespoons of honey today
along with four teaspoons of vanilla extract
before blending it all together.
I should note that the vanilla does change
the color ever so slightly.
So if you wanna keep it pristine white,
you'll want to use less.
Different brands of coconut milk
produce different cream textures
with some being more soft and others being more waxy.
I've got tips for both of these
on the recipe post, but if it's more waxy and stiff,
you can always add a little more
coconut water to smooth it out.
Give the whipped cream a stir,
then store it in the fridge
until it's ready to be used,
as it will soften at room temperature.
So now it's time for our brownies,
and I'm using two boxes of Simple Mills brownie mix.
During the holidays, we're all looking to save time
and get food on the table fast.
And this brownie mix makes whipping up
this dessert recipe amazingly easy.
You guys know I'm extremely picky
when it comes to packaged food, but I love Simple Mills
because they use the exact same ingredients
that I use in most of my baking recipes.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
and then grease two eight-by-eight
or nine-by-nine inch square baking pans.
You can use coconut oil, butter, or ghee
depending on your dietary preference.
But as I'm showing you a dairy-free version today,
I'm gonna use coconut oil.
Whenever I bake brownies, I also like to use
a sheet of parchment paper to line the pan,
as it makes removing them super easy,
and you'll see that here in a second
once our brownies are done.
So to make the brownies, add a half a cup
of melted oil or butter to a mixing bowl
along with three tablespoons of water and two eggs.
Whisk the liquid ingredients together
so it's all well combined.
Then pour in your dry ingredients from the brownie box.
Stir the wet and dry ingredients together
until you have this thick brownie batter,
and then pour it into your baking pan.
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One thing you'll notice in this brownie batter
is that there's little chocolate chips in the mix,
which just makes these brownies
extra decadent and delicious.
Use a spatula to pat the butter into your pan
and get it into those corners.
We'll repeat this process for our second batch of brownies
and then pop them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
And just a heads-up, that if you cook two pans
at the same time, they might need a minute
or two longer.
When you remove them from the oven,
your kitchen will smell amazing
and you'll wanna dig right in,
but do let them cool completely to room temperature.
You don't want any residual heat in these brownies
or else they could melt the other ingredients
when we get to layering.
So once they're fully cooled,
remove them from the pans and see how easy it was
with the parchment paper?
And then use the knife to cut them
into one-inch squares.
This is about half the size
of a normal brownie, but you want them more bite sized
to add to the trifle bowl.
Now that we've got all of our components cooled
and ready to go, let's get to layering.
You can see that the chocolate chia pudding mouse
has thickened up ever so slightly,
and the coconut cream is still nice and fluffy.
Add a layer of brownies to the bottom
of a trifle bowl, and I'll link this one I'm using
in the description box below.
If you don't have a trifle bowl,
you could use a large glass serving bowl as well.
The goal here is to keep the brownies
tightly layered next to each other,
because wherever there's gaps,
that's where the pudding will seep through,
and we don't want all of our pudding to seep through
the middle of the trifle if there's holes.
So you can see I've really squished
those brownies together, and I'll even tear
a brownie in half to plug some of those holes
if they're too big.
Use one entire brownie mix to create the first layer.
Then scoop half
of your chocolate chia pudding mousse on top.
Use a spoon or spatula to spread it around,
and you can see how quickly the pudding finds those gaps.
It's fine around the outside edges,
and that's what gives trifles
their beautifully imperfect look.
But again, you just don't want it seeping
all down through the middle.
Next, layer about 60 to 70% of the coconut cream.
Coconut cream is thicker and heavier
than dairy whipped cream, so you have to be
a little gentle when you spread this
so you don't push it through the pudding layer.
And then we'll repeat these three layers.
Use the entire second batch of brownies
for the next layer and pack them in tightly.
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Add the remaining half of pudding
and spread it around to the outer edges.
You can see that we're almost out of space
in our trifle bowl, but we have just enough room
to add a very generous dollop
of coconut whipped cream on top.
I like to add a big, heaping amount in the middle,
but you can certainly spread this out thin if you wish.
And if you do want to spread it flat,
then I'd recommend using 50% of the whipped cream
on each layer.
But we're not quite done just yet
because we need to sprinkle
some shaved chocolate on top.
Use a large knife to slice a chocolate bar into shavings.
And I find this is easier if the chocolate bar
is slightly chilled.
Sprinkle the chocolate on top of the trifle
and then take a step back
and look at the most beautiful showstopper dessert recipe
you just created.
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The great thing about trifles
is that they're easily adaptable.
So I wanted to sneak in two quick variations
because I just couldn't help myself.
The first is making the trifle
in individual serving cups,
and the second is swapping the chocolate pudding
for pumpkin pudding, which is perfect for Thanksgiving.
I have mini trifle bowls
which are just the cutest, but you could serve this up
in drinking glasses as well.
And for this variation, I'm just doing a single layer
of each ingredient.
So I'll add the brownies
and squish them in tightly.
Then I'll add a generous spoonful or two
of pumpkin pie chia pudding mousse.
And if you watched my fall meal prep video,
this is the same pudding I showed on that video.
Add a dollop of coconut whipped cream
and repeat this process on the other servings.
If you make the large-sized trifle,
it serves about 12, so keep that in mind
when making these smaller portions.
And instead of using chocolate shavings on top,
I thought it would be fun to crumble
some Simple Mills cookies on top,
and either the Toasted Pecan
or Crunchy Cinnamon would pair beautifully.
I just crunch the cookies in my hands
and try to not make a complete mess
on my counter in the process.
But look at how cute these turned out.
So whether you make the full-size trifle
or the minis, use chocolate chia pudding mousse
or pumpkin pie chia pudding mousse
and use coconut whipped cream or dairy whipped cream,
I think you'll have very happy guests on the other end.
I've of course sampled all of these variations
and I can attest to the fact that no matter
how you whip it up, it's utterly delicious.
I hope you guys enjoyed this trifle recipe.
And if you did, make sure to give it a thumbs-up
and definitely tag me in your photos when you make it,
because I can't wait to see.
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