If you were a lover of Crème Brûlèe in your past life
You are not going to believe you are eating a vegan version with this recipe!
With just 5 ingredients and only 3 of them are essential!
The most notable characteristic trait of the classic Crème Brûlèe
Is the warm caramelized sugar shell that you have to break through to get to the creamy custard beneath
In order to do this properly you should invest in a blow torch or kitchen brulee torch
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Notes for Success:
You will need Creme Brulee Ramekins for this dessert!
Some people will use the broiler setting on the oven to burn the sugar, but this is not really the greatest idea
Since the broiler method could also turn your custard back to a warm pudding.
When measuring cornstarch I cannot stress enough that a kitchen scale is the best way to go.
Cornstarch is a very difficult ingredient to measure consistently with a volume spoons measure
So while I list both measures below I cannot stress enough how the grams measure with a scale is going to give you the best results.
*Note: The Vegan Butter is not an essential addition to this recipe but because I used a lower fat milk I added it in
Traditional Creme Brulee is made with heavy cream which has a very high fat content
But as long as you are using the highest fat plant milk possible you can definitely leave out the butter!
WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS CREME BRULEE
Check out my Creme Caramel recipe too!
Vegan Crème Brûlèe Recipe
Ingredients
- Plant Milk *highest fat for best results 2½ cups (590ml)
- Granulated Sugar ½ cup (100g)
- Cornstarch 5 Tablespoons (40g) **see note above
- Vegan Butter 1 Tablespoon (14g) *see notes above
- Vanilla Extract or Paste 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- OR 1 vanilla bean scraped of it's seed and boiled with the plant milk *see notes below
- Granulated sugar 4-6 Tablespoons for caramelizing the tops
Instructions
- Combine the sugar & cornstarch together in a heavy bottom sauce pot, then add the plant milk
- Cook over medium heat stirring constantly with a whisk until it comes to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the vegan butter & vanilla
- *If you are using a vanilla bean you will split it and scrape it of it's seeds and boil the entire pod in the milk. Once it boils, remove the pod and dry it off, then add it to a bowl of granulated sugar tightly closed and use for vanilla sugar as the caramelizing sugar for the tops 🙂
- Pour the custard into un-greased ramekins and refrigerate to set - this should only take about 15-20 minutes
- Once set, sprinkle approximately 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar lightly over the tops, NOT A THICK LAYER, then using a torch (according to the instructions on your particular model) caramelize the tops
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Creme Brulee must be kept refrigerated and will stay fresh for up to 4 days
Do not caramelize the sugar until just before serving
Yeeeeeeeeeees!!!
I’m going to try this tomorrow with the vanilla bean pod. To clarify, I understand I should scrape the pod and boil the pod with the milk/sugar/corn starch mixture, but should I add the seeds after taking the mixture off the heat, or should the seeds be added during the boil?
Thank you!
Wow. This was scary good and scary easy. I’m still in shock.
LOL! YAY!
Made it for Christmas and it was delicious. Family has already asked me to make it again! Heck. Yeah.
Amazing! Used vegan eggnog instead of vegan milk, worked great!!!
YAY! great! thank you!
Do you add the vanilla seeds too or just use the pod?
Oh yes definitely the seeds, the pod gets scraped & all the seeds go in, but I also like to cook the pod inside for MAX vanilla essence, then I remove the pod- I think the video tutorial shows all the steps!
Hi Gretchen,
I would like to make this for my daughter. What fat content would you recommend for the plant milk? Would the barista versions be better or Silk whipping cream? Thanks!
I have used tinned coconut milk & carton soy milk with great results. Silk whipping cream would also work!