Death by Chocolate (Gluten Free & Dairy Free)

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This healthier version of the classic Death by Chocolate doesn’t skimp on the flavor or decadence! It’s gluten free, dairy free, and paleo as well as the perfect make ahead dessert for any special occasion. It’s a family tradition kind of dessert in my husbands family that I eagerly picked up and I know you’re going to love it too. It all starts with a flourless chocolate cake that’s layered together with chocolate pudding and coconut whipped cream to create the most luscious trifle you’ve ever eaten!

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

My recipe for Death by Chocolate comes from my husband’s family, and it truly lives up to it’s name. I’ve taken the liberty to change the recipe around to make for a healthier chocolate indulgence.

Strangely enough, my healthier version turned out even more rich and decadent than the original. This is mostly because my chocolate cake recipe is a lot more fudgy than cakey in texture.

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

This could be the only chocolate dessert you’ll ever need in your life – it’s really that good! It elicits ‘mmms’ and small moans from everyone who’s tried it.

If you want a surefire people – pleaser, this is your dessert. Creamy, chocolatey goodness with bits of fudgy cake – that’s all the ingredients of happiness right there!

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

Let’s get started making this healthier Death by Chocolate step by step!

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

Bake a recipe of Chocolate Skillet Cake using the version with 2/3 cup of maple syrup. When it’s cool, cut it into cubes right in the pan. Then use a metal spatula to scoop the cubes out.

Make the chocolate pudding according to the recipe and let that cool as well. Both the cake and the pudding can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 1 day before you assemble your dessert.

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

For the coconut whipped cream, I made my version with the entire can of coconut milk (refer to my coconut whipped cream post for detailed instructions) which makes a soft and fluffy whipped cream.

You can also use the solid cream from two cans of coconut milk to make a stiffer whipped cream. I personally prefer a softer cream in this dessert.

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

For this dessert, it’s nice to use a glass serving dish so that you can see the layers melding together. Place half of the cake cubes in the bottom of your serving dish.

Pour half of the chocolate pudding over the top and layer with half of the whipped cream. Repeat the layers one more time leaving a couple of cake cubes to crumble over the top for decoration.

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!
Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

Here’s a close-up of the final look. As you can see, the whipped cream is soft, and the layers almost melt together. This original recipe also had a layer of crunched up toffee, but I haven’t found an organic substitute for that one yet!

Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

This will keep in the fridge for at least 3 days, although we haven’t had any around long enough to see past that.

This dessert is dense, fudgy chocolate cake with rich, creamy chocolate pudding interrupted with layers of billowy coconut whipped cream – every bite is absolute bliss!

I really hope you enjoy this gluten free and dairy free Death by Chocolate! And if you do get a chance to make it, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. I always love hearing from you here! Also for more healthy chocolate desserts, head on over to the recipe index.

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Death by Chocolate | Get Inspired Everyday!

Death by Chocolate


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5 from 8 reviews

Description

This healthier version of the classic Death by Chocolate doesn’t skimp on the flavor or decadence! It’s gluten free, dairy free, and paleo as well as the perfect make ahead dessert for any special occasion. It’s a family tradition kind of dessert in my husbands family that I eagerly picked up and I know you’re going to love it too. It all starts with a flourless chocolate cake that’s layered together with chocolate pudding and coconut whipped cream to create the most luscious trifle you’ve ever eaten!


Ingredients

Scale

1 recipe Chocolate Fudge Skillet Cake, made with 2/3 cup Grade A maple syrup

1 recipe Coconut Whipped Cream, made with the entire can for a soft cream, or the hardened coconut cream from 2 cans for a firmer whipped cream

Chocolate Pudding:

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons tapioca starch, or organic cornstarch (which is not grain free)

1/2 cup Grade A maple syrup

pinch of sea salt

1 can (15.33 oz) coconut milk

2 Teaspoons vanilla

1 ounce dark chocolate of choice, broken into pieces


Instructions

Make a recipe of chocolate skillet cake and while it’s baking, start the chocolate pudding.

Whisk together the cocoa powder, tapioca/cornstarch, maple syrup, and pinch of sea salt until it’s smooth. Add the coconut milk and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the pudding comes to a boil, and thickens.

Remove the pudding from the heat and add the vanilla and chocolate, and stir until completely smooth. Place the pudding in an airtight container, and place it in the refrigerator to cool.

Both the cake and pudding can be made 1 day before you’re ready to assemble your dessert.

When you’re ready to assemble the dessert, make a recipe of coconut whipped cream.

Cut the chocolate cake into 1/2 inch cubes and place half of them in the bottom of a clear glass serving dish. Layer with 1/2 the chocolate pudding and 1/2 the coconut whipped cream.

Repeat the layers and serve immediately or refrigerate up to 4 hours until serving. You can also layer this dessert into individual containers.

This dessert can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. If you choose to go with the firmer whipped cream, it will become more solid as the dessert is refrigerated.

Notes

For a completely dairy free version, be sure to use coconut oil in the chocolate skillet cake and a dairy free chocolate bar in the pudding.

The 6-8 serving sizes may seem small, but this dessert has a really rich chocolate flavor and it’s really satisfying! It serve as many as 12 in small individual dessert bowls, but 6-8 is more comfortable.

The pudding is thick enough to hold it’s shape, so sometimes I whisk in 2 Tablespoons of water after it’s cooked if I want a softer dessert.

  • Prep Time: 25 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

42 thoughts on “Death by Chocolate (Gluten Free & Dairy Free)”

  1. Wow! Swoon! Can I just snap my fingers and have this appear in front of me? At least a couple of those bowls. Yum! This looks amazing, such a fun treat!






    Reply
  2. This would KILL me out of amazingness! I love the chocolate and coconut layers in every glass. The mix of chocolate cake and creamy coconut kind of reminds me of layered ice cream cake. Sounds so yummy!

    Reply
  3. Can you make these sugar free?

    Do you have a recipe that is totally sugar free?

    I can’t have it natural or not!

    Reply
    • I don’t have any sugar free recipes, I use natural sweeteners in all of my desserts. You should easily be able to make the chocolate pudding and whipped cream without sugar (using whichever artificial sweetener you prefer), as far as the chocolate cake goes, I’m including some links below to other websites that specialize in no sugar desserts, (I haven’t personally tried these recipes, but they are a great source for no sugar goodies). I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know if you have anymore questions!

      http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2016/01/the-best-low-carb-chocolate-cake-recipes.html
      http://www.sugarfreemom.com/recipes/sugar-free-low-carb-chocolate-crazy-cake-egg-free-dairy-free-nut-free-gluten-free/

      Reply
    • You can use either tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour) or cornstarch as a replacement. If you use tapioca starch, I would start by trying half of the amount called for because it tends to thicken more than the others. After you bring the pudding to a boil, if it still isn’t as thick as you’d like, you can mix the additional tablespoon of tapioca starch together with 2 tablespoons water and slowly drizzle in a small amount at a time, whisking vigorously until the pudding becomes as thick as you’d like. Another thing to remember with tapioca is that it becomes approximately twice as thick once it’s cooled. I hope this helps, and be sure to let me know how it goes, or if you have anymore questions!

      Reply
  4. Hi Kari-

    I’m thinking of making this for a holiday party and wanted to make it more “seasonal.” I was thinking about adding peppermint extract to the pudding and crushing some candy canes to go on top of the whipped cream. Do you think that would work? What about adding it to the skillet cake, or would that be overkill?

    Michelle (wife of ^^Steve)

    Reply
    • I personally don’t like peppermint with chocolate (weird, I know) so my opinion isn’t of much use. I think it would be good in the pudding, (I’m not sure what peppermint will taste like combined with coconut whipped cream). I wouldn’t put it in the skillet cake because it might be confusing with the chocolate/almond butter flavor. I would use a sour cherry sauce myself because I love chocolate and cherries, or sprinkle with pomegranate seeds for a festive red and white combo.

      Best of luck with the peppermint endeavor! I was glad to hear that you and Steve love this dessert because it’s one of our favorites too!

      Reply
  5. Ho-ly crap…
    I am not usually a big chocolate fan, but my wife said she wanted to make this for my birthday. I thought “how sweet” (since she is a HUGE chocolate fan). She made the nutella pudding instead of the chocolate pudding, and since we had a 10″ skillet instead of 9″ skillet she did a 1.5x recipe for the cake. This was one of the best chocolate desserts ever… no, just one of the best DESSERTS ever (chocolate or not). The skillet cake was the best brownies I’ve ever had, ever. I don’t know what else I can say about this… oh, wait. I had none of the usual GI tract issues I normally have with cake/pudding/milk based dessert… so thanks for that. She did include a bit of hazelnut kahlua to the coconut cream. SOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!

    Thanks again!
    Steve

    Reply
    • Glad to hear it was a success! I love this dessert with nutella flavors as well and next time I’ll have to try some of my Frangelico in the whipped cream. Thanks for the great idea!

      Reply

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