Creme Brulee Anyone?

One of my favorites: milky, eggy, creamy with a crust of sugar on top.  *Sigh* and yum.

Creme Brulee- dairy, egg and soy free

But dairy-free and egg-free creme brulee?  Without tofu? Is it possible? 
Talk about a mission!  I found a recipe at Whole Living Daily by Cybele Pascal.  It has been sitting in my "to try" recipe file for quite a bit while I contemplated it.  Would it really taste like creme brulee?  Or will it fall quite short?  When you've elevated a food in your mind to almost "nectar of the gods" status messing with it can be pretty dicey.  (My absolute fav is chocolate mousse...)

So finally I took the plunge.  It won't pass for creme brulee in a blind taste test. The texture across the tongue is not the same.  But it is a creamy custard-like treat with vanilla and coconut flavors. It is delicious and definitely worth indulging yourself.  Here is my version... as always I made a few tweaks from the original recipe.

Creme brulee

1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (I use Goya because there are no sweetners or stabilizers in it.  Stir it well)
1/4 c. tapioca starch
1/4 c. granulated sugar (* vegan sugar)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 c rice milk (you can substitute other types of milk here if you can't have/ don't have rice milk)
2 teaspoons Ener-G egg-replacer

3 Tablespoons organic sucanat (brown sugar)

Vanilla sugar or granulated sugar for the top

In a small bowl whisk together 1/4 cup coconut milk, tapioca, sugar, vanilla extract, rice milk and egg-replacer.  Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, combine the rest of the coconut milk and the organic sucanat.  Bring to a simmer and stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved.  Add the coconut milk tapioca starch mixture and bring to a simmer.  Whisk continuously until thickened.  (You may need to reduce the heat some or the mixture on the bottom with begin to cook.  It becomes rubbery.)  Put into small Pyrex dishes or creme brulee dishes and place in fridge to chill about 1 hour.

Right before eating:

Take out of fridge and sprinkle with vanilla sugar.  Using a creme brulee torch heat sugar until it begins to brown lightly.  You want a light caramel color here.


Vanilla Sugar-
My favorite way to make vanilla sugar is to store a vanilla bean in the sugar for several weeks to several months.
But this is how I made vanilla sugar for this recipe

1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla powder

Mix together and store in an airtight glass jar.


Enjoy!
Michelle