Vegan Crème Brûlée

A rich and ultra creamy vanilla ‘custard’ like filling with a crunchy, caramelised topping. This Crème Brûlée makes the best indulgent dessert.

 

I’ve been seeing Crème Brûlée’s absolutely everywhere on social media recently, so I thought I’d jump on the hype and share my absolutely delicious version of Crème Brûlée, with a vegan twist!

At first glance, Crème Brûlée looks intimidating. To be honest, I always thought it was quite a difficult dessert to make, but that isn’t the case AT ALL!

These brûlées can be whipped up in minutes, the only difficult thing about them is waiting for them to chill in the fridge so you can tuck in- haha!

What is Crème Brûlée?

Crème Brûlée, also known as burned cream, burnt cream, is a French dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hardened caramelised sugar. It’s easy to make, and is served in ramekins.

These Crème Brûlée’s have 2 simple steps:

1. A custard filling. A creamy vanilla custard filling which sets firm is crucial for the classic and iconic Crème Brûlée flavour and texture. This recipe uses silken tofu which replicates the egg commonly used when making classic Créme Brûlées.

Vanilla bean paste really gives this dessert a pop of flavour. If you can’t get vanilla bean paste, seeds from a vanilla pod would be absolutely perfect! I wouldn’t suggest vanilla extract as its pretty weak in flavour and might not give you the flavour you’re looking for.

2. A torched sugar topping. Crème Brûlée wouldn’t be a Brûlée at all if it wasn’t for the torched sugar on top. This layer is so simple, I could do it with my eyes closed… but I wouldn’t recommend that as it might cause serous damage- ahaha! Disclaimer- never play with fire or with a blow torch, it’s scary stuff!

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Ingredients you’ll need:

• Silken tofu
• Caster sugar
• Light brown sugar (optional but adds a caramel flavour)
• Coconut cream (see notes*)
• Cornflour / cornstarch
• Vanilla bean paste / seeds from a vanilla pod
• Nutritional yeast
• Dairy-free milk (any dairy-free milk works a treat for this)

Kitchen equipment you’ll need:

• A kitchen blowtorch – for torching the sugar ontop
• A saucepan – for simmering the mixture
• 3 small ramekins
• A blender – High speed blender for whizzing up the ingredients

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Looking for more caramel recipes? Look no further:

Vegan Baked Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Vegan Salted Caramel Chocolate Loaf

Vegan Salted Caramel Brownie Cups

Vegan Twix Bars

Vegan Caramel Apple Cake

 

 

Notes*

Silken tofu- My favourites silken tofu’s are ‘Clearspring Organic Tofu’, ‘Satono Tofu’. Any tofu that comes in a box will be perfect, just make sure you drain the water from the tofu before use. If you don’t, the Crème Brûlée maybe runny but still extremely tasty!

How do I get Coconut cream?: Chill a can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, turn it upside down and open. Pour out the liquid and use the thick, white cream.

Preparation: 5 minutes

Makes: 3 medium ramekins

Chilling time: Overnight

Level: Easy

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Ingredients for the custard fulling

• 230g of silken tofu (drained)
• 140g of caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar ( optional, but gives a caramel flavour to the custard filling)
• 100ml of coconut cream (see notes*)
• 1 heaped tablespoon of cornflour / cornstarch
• 1/2 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste / seeds from a vanilla pod
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon of dairy-free milk

Ingredients for the caramilzed topping

• 2 tablespoons of granulated / caster sugar

+

• Fruit to serve (optional)

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Method (custard filling)

1. Strain any excess water from the silken tofu and add it into a blender along with the sugars, coconut cream, corn flour / starch, vanilla bean paste / pod seeds, nutritional yeast and dairy-free milk.

Whizz up on high speed until creamy and smooth. This will take 1-2 minutes. I use a Kitchenaid Power Plus Blender.

2. Pour the mixture into a medium sized saucepan. Place the saucepan over a low / medium heat and allow it to thicken for 5-8 minutes. The mixture will begin the bubble away and turn thick, so keep it moving with a hand whisk to prevent any burning. Whisking will also break up any lumps.

3. Once thick, evenly divide / pour the mixture into the ramekins. My ramekins fit 125g of custard mixture in each but this all depends on what size you’re going for. Just evenly distribute it. Allow to cool at room temperature before transferring into the fridge. Refrigerate overnight or until fully set / firm.

Method (caramelised top)

1. When ready to serve, remove the ramekins from the fridge. Sprinkle 1/2  tablespoon of granulated sugar over the surface of the chilled / firm custard filling. Only brûlée the tops of these desserts just before serving.

2. Using a kitchen blowtorch, holding the flame about 3 inches away from the sugar, torch the top until a golden / amber colour. The sugar will bubble away. You want to keep moving the blow torch around so it touches ever grain of sugar. The longer you torch the surface, the darker it will become. The sugar till harden as it cools down. Don’t over burn or it’ll effect the taste.

Serve immediately.

To give them some colour, serve with some fresh fruit. My favourites are fresh strawberries and blueberries.

To store:

Serve immediately or store in the fridge until your guests are ready to eat their dessert.

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