This Vegan Strawberry Trifle is so easy to make and just as delicious as the traditional version: layers of fruity strawberry jelly, creamy custard and fluffy coconut whipped cream topped with fresh strawberries! It's rich and creamy, and also gluten-free and refined sugar free too. It's a no-bake dessert that's perfect for sharing and great for special occasions like birthdays and Christmas!
Agar is a vegan-friendly gelatine replacement. It's a natural jelly-like substance that comes from algae that grows in the sea. It was first discovered in Japan in the 17th century. It's very healthy as it's made of around 80% fibre. You will be able to find agar flakes in most local health stores or Asian supermarkets, if not your local supermarket.
I use this custard powder - it's vegan and gluten-free, and doesn't contain any added sugar, plus it's made of just 4 simple ingredients!
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Place the strawberries in a pan with the lemon juice, maple syrup, sherry and water, and cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes, until the strawberries have softened.
- Use a spoon, fork or wooden spoon to gently mash the strawberries against the side of the pan.
- Making sure the mixture is simmering, add the agar and mix well.
- Heat for a further couple of minutes, stirring frequently, until the agar has melted.
- Pour the jelly mixture into a large trifle dish and leave the jelly to cool and set.
- Measure out the milk in a measuring jug and make the custard.
Tip: If it's looking too thick, add a little extra milk.
- Making sure that the jelly has set completely, pour the custard mixture on top of the jelly mixture and leave to cool so that the custard will set.
- Make the coconut whipped cream using an electric whisk.
- Ensuring that the custard has cooled down and set completely, carefully spoon the coconut whipped cream on top of the custard.
- Decorate with fresh berries and chopped pistachios, if desired.
Tip: Best served after having been kept in the fridge for a few hours.
How long does this Strawberry Trifle keep for?
This Strawberry Trifle keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use fresh or frozen strawberries.
- You can replace the strawberries with any other fruit: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mango, peaches etc (just make sure to adjust the amount of maple syrup depending on the natural sweetness of the fruit you use).
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup etc.
- You can omit the sherry or replace it with any other alcohol.
- You can replace the cashew milk with almond milk.
- For a nut-free version, replace the cashew milk with oat milk.
- If you're pressed for time, you can replace the coconut whipped cream with a thick coconut yogurt.
- You can decorate the trifle with anything you like!
More vegan no-bake desserts
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Watch how to make this recipe
Vegan Strawberry Trifle (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
For the jelly:
- 300 g (10.5 oz) strawberries , hulled and cut into small pieces (or sub any other fruit)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- Sherry to taste (optional - ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary)
- 400 ml (1 ⅔ cup) water
- 1 teaspoon agar (check instructions on packet as quantities needed can vary between brands)
For the custard:
- 710 ml (3 cups) unsweetened cashew milk (or sub unsweetened almond milk or unsweetened oat milk for a nut-free version)
- 3 tablespoons custard powder (ensure vegan/gluten-free if necessary)
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
For the coconut whipped cream*:
- 400 g (14 oz) tin full-fat coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
To decorate (optional):
- Fresh berries
- Pistachio nuts , roughly chopped
Instructions
For the jelly:
- Place the strawberries in a pan with the lemon juice, maple syrup, sherry and water, and cook on a low heat for around 10 minutes, until the strawberries have softened.
- Use a spoon, fork or wooden spoon to gently mash the strawberries against the side of the pan.
- Making sure the mixture is simmering, add the agar and mix well.
- Heat for a further couple of minutes, stirring frequently, until the agar has melted.
- Pour the jelly mixture into a large trifle dish and leave the jelly to cool and set.
For the custard:
- Measure out the milk in a jug and pour most of it into a pan, leaving behind a small amount of milk.
- Place the custard powder into this milk in the jug and mix well until completely dissolved.
- Once the milk in the saucepan is steaming, add a little of the hot milk to the dissolved custard powder mixture in the jug, mix well and transfer the whole lot back to the saucepan with the hot milk.
- Add the maple syrup, mix well and keep heating, stirring frequently, on a low heat for a few minutes until thickened. If it's looking too thick, add a little extra milk.
- Making sure that the jelly has set completely, pour the custard mixture on top of the jelly mixture and leave to cool so that the custard will set.
For the coconut whipped cream:
- You'll need to keep your tin of coconut milk in the fridge overnight for the rich creamy bit to separate from the watery bit at the bottom. Make sure it is full fat coconut milk, otherwise this separation won't happen and you won't be able to make this cream!
- Open the tin upside down - the coconut cream will be at the bottom and you can just pour off the watery liquid (save this for adding to smoothies).
- Place the thick, creamy part into a bowl with around 3 tablespoons of the water.
- Add the maple syrup and vanilla extract.
- Use an electric whisk (or a manual one and a lot of elbow grease) to whip up the coconut cream until light and fluffy.
- Ensuring that the custard has cooled down and set completely, carefully spoon the coconut whipped cream on top of the custard.
To decorate:
- Decorate with fresh berries and chopped pistachios, if desired.
- Best served after having been kept in the fridge for a few hours.
- Keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Video
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog - thank you.
Eithne
This looks really lovely, I have not had trifle for decades and will definitely make this. My mother always used Sherry soaked sponge cake as the bottom layer. Can you recommend any one of your cake recipes for this?
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much! You can use the sponge in my tiramisu recipe for this: https://www.rhiansrecipes.com/gluten-free-vegan-tiramisu/. Hope that helps!
Colin Harris
Looks great, will definately try making this. Tried a vegan trifle from a supermarket over Christmas and it was waaaay to sweet so making my own might be the way!
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much, hope you'll like it!