Vegan Crème Brûlée
Broolay without the Moo-lay
Oh my god I’m pleased with that subtitle - no ‘Moo’ (dairy free) and no ‘Lay’ (egg free). I shall sleep happy after that satisfying bit of word play.
Makes 4 100ml ramekins
INGREDIENTS:
Custard:
100g water
30g cornflour (corn starch)
30g white sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp vanilla
yellow food (optional… but boring)
300g cream*
Caramel Topping:
4 tbsp of Caramel Crumbs (see how to below) OR 4 tbsp of white sugar
*I used vegan creams Coconut Collab and Oatly, but I have also tried Elmlea 100% which is very good. If you’re just avoiding eggs you can use 300g of dairy double cream. If you want to avoid processed vegan creams you can leave out the 100g of water and use 200g of good quality coconut nut milk - one with a high coconut extract percentage, and 200g of coconut cream.
HOW TO:
• Add the cornflour to a pan with the sugar, salt and vanilla.
• Add a little of the water to make a smooth paste and then add the rest.
• Add the cream and mix in.
• Put the pan on a medium heat and keep stirring / whisking as it thickens to avoid lumps.
• Taste the custard when it’s thickened and if there is any chalkiness from the cornflour keep cooking gently until it’s gone.
• Pour the custard into your 4 ramekins and leave them to chill for a couple of hours or until completely set.
• Sprinkle caramel crumbs or sugar over the set, chilled custard and blow torch or grill until caramelised.
• Eat within an hour of blow torching the tops as the caramel will start to liquefy if left too long.
• Enjoy!
Tat x
How to make Caramel Crumbs
INGREDIENTS:
250g white granulated sugar
HOW TO:
• Make a dry caramel with 250g of white granulated sugar by heating it gently in a heavy bottom pan until it liquifies and then caramelises. (This amount is much more than you will need for 4 ramekins but it’s always handy to have some ready-made in case you suddenly realise you need some caramel.
• Pour the caramel on to a non stick heat proof mat and leave to cool.
• When the caramel has cooled and solidified crush it to crumbs either in a food processor or with a rolling pin.
• Keep the crumbs an air tight container until needed.