Welcome to the Potluck! By now your waistband is probably stretched a bit, the table is thick with empty plates and glasses and you’ve probably gone through a napkin or two. There are still lots of yummy, sweet, decadent treats coming your way and – I want you to get right to the next dessert! Mine!
I couldn’t resist this year; I had to make a dessert. Sure, I had fun at the last Potluck with my Sage & Rosemary Dinner Rolls with Roasted Garlic Coconut Butter, but the dessert bloggers were getting all of the attention! While a bit detailed and requiring some advance work, this rich and creamy trifle recipe is well-worth the effort – especially for a holiday meal or for when you want to impress your guests. By the way, you’re really getting two desserts for the price of one. Both the cake and the creme are stand-outs on their own.

Maple Creme & Mocha Spice Cake Trifle with Fresh Blueberries
Description
My very special VVP dessert for 2012 is a rich and lightly-spiced trifle made from mocha cake and maple creme.
Ingredients
Mocha Spice Cake
- 2 cups freshly-brewed hot coffee
- 1/2 cup maple sugar, divided
- 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 1 very ripe banana, mashed
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 Tbsp. flaxseed meal + 6 Tbsp. water (whisk together and set aside until thickened)
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 tsp. powdered stevia
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- 1/4 cup sweetened cacao nibs
Maple Creme
- 16-ounce silken tofu
- 1/4 cup freshly-brewed coffee
- 1/2 cup almond milk, divided
- 2 tsp. maple extract
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- juice of 1/2 a lemon
- 3 Tbsp. tahini
- pinch cardamom
- pinch kosher salt
- 4 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
- 1/2 –1 cup fresh blueberries
Instructions
Make the mocha spice cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch x 13-inch pan with parchment and lightly spray with cooking oil.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1/4 cup of the maple sugar. Add vanilla extract and flaxseed mixture. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine the coffee, the remaining 1/4 cup of the maple sugar and the cocoa. Whisk together and warm – just enough for the cocoa and maple syrup to dissolve. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, stevia, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and allspice. When the coffee mixture is cool, alternately add it and the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Stir until smooth. Stir in the cacao nibs.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is firm and springy and a tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before cutting into small chunks.
Make the creme
- Mix the arrowroot powder with 1/4 cup of the nut milk. Set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup and coffee and gently warm.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the tofu, the remaining 1/4 cup nut milk, the maple and vanilla extracts, lemon juice, tahini, cardamom and salt and process until very smooth.
- Let the maple syrup/coffee mixture come to a boil, reduce the heat and stir in the arrowroot powder. Stir with a whisk until the mixture thickens – this happens quite suddenly. Immediately pour the arrowroot mixture into the blender with the tofu mixture and process until thoroughly combined. Pour into an air-tight container and refrigerate until firm.
Assemble the trifle
- In a large glass trifle bowl or in individual bowls, pour some of the maple creme. Lay down a layer of mocha spice cakes chunks and sprinkle in some blueberries. Repeat layers until all of the ingredients have been used – making sure you end with maple creme and blueberries. Cover and store in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 8
- Calories: 379
- Sugar: 25
- Sodium: 264
- Fat: 12
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Unsaturated Fat: 7
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 61
- Protein: 8
- Cholesterol: 15
Thank you so very much for visiting An Unrefined Vegan and for coming to the Potluck! If you like what you see here, consider following my blog or visiting me on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
And now – – continue your plant-based journey and discover more delicious desserts!
To visit Too Cheap for Pine Nuts (sharing arroz sin leche), the next blog in the Potluck, click on the Go Forward button below, or click here:
To return to Anne Sture Tucker’s blog and her delicious carrot cake, click on the Go Back button below or click here:
You can always start at the beginning of the Potluck by visiting Vegan Bloggers Unite! or the home base of the Potluck, the Virtual Vegan Potluck website.
You’re early!
Girl, this is incredible! I think that’s gotta be the most delicious trifle I’ve ever seen! I totally saved room for dessert 😉
Good thing we started early, huh??
Yup, plenty of time to work out the bugs 😉
It’s desserts like this that make me want to ALWAYS start with dessert. Lovely recipe Annie..
Thanks, Dena!
i love that mocha spice cake!! awesome!
Richa, it’s great just on it’s own. I did a lot of sampling…
That looks so delicious!! Love the addition of blueberries! And the cake looks so tender. Thanks for letting me be a part of the VVP!
Glad to have you on board!! Oh, and I initially wanted to use a cranberry sauce – but it just didn’t work – so blueberries it became!
I’m glad I started at dessert first!
Big hugs to you, and thank you for all your awesomeness xoxo
Oh you sly fox, you! Very smart! Thank you, dear. SO glad you were a part of the VVP again this time around.
This looks and sounds AMAZING!
I have to confess that I started with desserts lol
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Your entry is a really good one! I love it so much! I know you will love my invented salad too! 🙂 xxx I must make this stunning & creative dessert, dear Annie! Yummm!
Thanks, Sophie!! I did love your salad!
Wow, that’s a stunning contribution, Annie! What I’m wondering is how much of this dessert got nibbled on before the finished product materialised. That second photo of the little chunks was just crying out for someone to pick at them.
Thank you, Lorna! I had a lot of fun with it – and yes, much sampling and testing was done…quality control and all of that.
Beautiful dessert Annie! I especially like the sound of that maple cream 🙂
Thanks for all your hard work organizing, you’re a gem! Happy VVP!
I know, right – maple+cream?? Thanks, Gabby! Glad to have you back again this time around.
Another triumph! Don’t trifle with Annie… in this case DO! mmmm, mmmmm!
Hehe, no sirree!!
Totally yum! You know – I have no less than 3 triffle dishes – all wedding shower presents. That was 15 years ago and I have never made a triffle. I’ve always wanted to, they look so impressive. This one is no different! Wow. I really need to find a reason to make this. Holiday dinner here I come.
Oh my gosh! I didn’t have ONE trifle dish! I had to improvise…
PS… thanks for orchestrating another successful potluck! <3
You’re welcome!!
YUM. Well done, deliciousness and VVP organization success!
Thank you – – it’s worth the splitting headache ;-)! Thank goodness for Somer!!
This is my Sunday Project!! Looks amazing!
A worthy Sunday effort! Just try not to eat all of the cake before you assemble the trifle ;-)!
You had me at Maple Creme! YUM! This looks wonderful, but I am going to have to save this recipe to bring to an event or a party or I would eat it all and I am on a quest to lose more than 100 pounds! Thanks for letting me participate in my first VVP and thanks for your comment on my post earlier!
~Lolly
🙂 Thank you, Lolly!! My pleasure – and best of luck with your goal. You’ll get there!
Wow, that looks delicious, especially the maple creme. Thanks for all the work you’ve done to organize the potluck!
You are welcome! I love seeing it all come together.
This looks amazing and super yummy! I want a bowl of it in front of me right now. Thank you for using alternative sweeteners, too.
The blueberries just set this over the top!! AMazing! Job well done Annie my love!! This pot luck was a blast once again! I’ll be stopping by later to help you clean the kitchen and finish these sweets off, dessert is indeed the best place to end! 😉
Get over here now! Way too much for me to finish off by myself :-)! Thanks, hon!
Just making my way through the VVP & wanted to say hey 🙂
Hey!! Impressive eats, no?!
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You pulled out all the stops for today! Not only hosting but preparing THIS! Oh this looks too good!
Thanks, Vanessa!
What a pretty trifle! Thanks so much for all you did to pull this together. 🙂
You are welcome! So GLAD you were a part of it! Come to the next one, too, okay?
I would love to as long as the timing works. 🙂 Thanks so much!
the color combo brown and blue is so damn appealing, I could stare at it for hours, or maybe not, hate to eat and run beautiful!
With all of the Potluck food out there, I can totally understand eating and running!
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What a gorgeous, decadent, mouth-watering dessert! I feel like crying because I can’t have any right this minute! 🙂
YUM! Maple and blueberries are a match made in heaven. Thanks for being the legend behind all of this!
I like the sound of that: legend! (A legend in my own mind anyway!)
Beautiful Annie – you nailed it! I will be trying this – the husband LOVES trifle – thanks!! XO
Your husband is a wise man!
I’m seriously craving this now. Open a restaurant already! hehe Thanks for this recipe, I shall attempt to see if I could get close to your version. Yum! And thank your for putting together this communal event! Happy World Vegan Day my friend!
Hehe, you’re funny ;-)! Happy World Vegan Day (belated…) to you – and love having you at the Potluck!!
SO delicious! Gorgeous trifle, Annie! Fabulous Potluck 🙂
XXX
It was fun, wasn’t it, Anne! How’s your trip going?
YUMMO!!! Desserts are always the best part of the meal in my opinion 😉
Agreed!!
great recipe I have to make this 🙂
Hope you do, Thom! Thanks for visiting!
Mmm, this sounds like the essence of fall! Thanks for all of your hard work in making VVP a success!!
Thanks, Cadry! It’s a lot of work, but it’s so worth it!
GORGEOUS! I can’t imagine a more perfect dessert!
Yum, I think these photos had me drooling a little! I love spice cake, and all of the different flavor combos sound so good together!
I love it, it looks amazing! Well done.
Thank you!
This looks wonderful! (And I love that you added fresh berries on top, even though I’m sure this didn’t need it…)
I just loved the color combination – that and the cranberry relish I made to go with it just didn’t – didn’t go with it, that is!
Two desserts for the price of one=love 🙂
One can never have enough dessert…
Maple cream???? Annie you genius!
Well…genius… 🙂 Thanks, Barb!
An absolutely gorgeous trifle, Annie! And my mind is spinning with way I can use that Maple Creme.
I’ll bet you could come up w/ lots of tasty ideas!
Looks beautiful, sounds delicious and I’m just gonna stick my finger in there and grab some of that creaminess before I dive in. Yum!
Don’t forget to come up for air!
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Ohhhh my WOW! I know I’m late to the party but I hope you saved me some? Incredible! 🙂
This looks absolutely amazing. Thank you for the recipe. Love the colour of the blueberries. We love them so much, we call them ‘little bubbles of joy’ 😀
An apt title for the little buggers!
Wow!!! A spoon, please! 😀
🙂 a big spoon!
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