I love ginger (beer) and I love spiced rum, so when I spotted Yvette van Boven‘s recipe for dark and stormy crème brûlée in the Delicious Christmas Special I had to have it. It was as amazing as you imagine it to be (if you like ginger beer and rum).
Hong Kong ‘egg’ tarts from Sasha Gill
Because I’d previously made Sasha Gill‘s vegan Hong Kong ‘egg’ tarts from her book Jackfruit & Blue Ginger (released as East Meets Vegan in the US) I knew a vegan custardy situ was possible. So I decided to make a vegan version and share it with you.
Crème Brûlée tools
It’s nice if you have a blow torch at hand for this, though a broiler or an oven with a grill also work. If you are going to invest in a blow torch I suggest you get the kind that you snap onto a gas cannister, rather than the kind you have to fill yourself (which I have), as the latter are very fussy and have to be refilled more often than is desirable.
In the photo you can see I have tons of ramekins perfect for crème brûlée. These are all ramekins left over from store-bought desserts that came in ramekins and that I’ve saved over time. I think this is the best way to get ramekins because you get a free ready-made snack with them. You could also use a large tart or pie dish to make one big brûlée if that’s what you’re working with.
Not kid-proof
Obviously because this dish contains alcohol it is not suitable for children. To make it suitable for children you could leave out the dark and stormy syrup and lime, see recipe notes.
Dark and Stormy Crème Brûlée - Vegan
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Strainer or sieve
- Bowl, jar or bottle
- Oven
- Blender
- Ramekins x 8-9
- Oven dish(es) that will hold the ramekins as well as a fair amount of water
- A kettle for boiling water
- Kitchen foil to cover the ramekins
- Fridge
- Blow torch, oven with grill or broiler
Ingredients
For the dark and stormy syrup
- 1 can ginger beer about 12 oz - 330 ml, I like Old Jamaica
- 1" - 2.5 cm ginger grated
- 5 T - 90 ml rum separated into 3/ 2 T - 50/ 40 ml, I prefer spiced
For the dark and stormy crème brûlée
- 1.3 oz - 600 g silken tofu
- 3/4 c - 200 ml non-dairy milk I use vanilla flavored soy milk for added oomph
- 1 1/2 t - 9 g vanilla extract
- 3.5 T - 20 g vanilla custard powder check the ingredients to ensure this is vegan
- 1 c - 125 g sugar
- 1/2 c - 125 ml dark and stormy syrup see above
- zest of 1 lime the green, not the white, the latter is unpleasantly bitter
- pinch salt
To finish
- 1/2 c - 60 g cane sugar plain sugar is far less delicious in this instance
Instructions
Make the dark and stormy syrup
- Place the contents of 1 can of ginger beer in a small saucepan with 1" - 2.5 cm of grated ginger and 3 T - 50 ml of rum and bring to a boil.
- Boil the ginger beer, ginger and rum mixture for 10-20 minutes until it is reduced to at least half it's original amount.
- Strain the mixture through a strainer or sieve into a bowl, jar or bottle, before adding an additional 2 T - 40 ml of rum and leaving to cool.
To make the crème brûlée
- Preheat an oven to 260 °F - 125 °C.
- Blend together 1.3 oz - 600 g of silken tofu with 3/4 c - 200 ml milk, 1 1/2 t - 9 g vanilla extract, 3 1/2 T - 20 g custard powder, 1 c - 125 g sugar, 1/2 c - 125 ml dark and stormy syrup, the zest of 1 lime and a pinch of salt. Taste to check if you'd like to use more syrup, vanille, lime or salt.
- Divide the mixture across 8-9 ramekins. Place the ramekins in oven trays and pop the kettle on to boil some water.
- Carefully pour the boiling water into the oven trays around the ramekins so the water reaches roughly halfway to the top of the ramekins.
- Carefully place the trays into the hot oven and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Remove the trays from the oven and remove the ramekins from their water bath. Leave to cool to room temperature, about half an hour, before covering them with foil and placing them in a fridge to set overnight (8 hours).
To finish
- Before serving, take the ramekins from the fridge and top with an even layer of cane sugar before using a blow torch, broiler or hot oven grill to melt the sugar on top. Stay close in the latter two instances as the sugar will burn quickly.
Notes
- Obviously because this recipe contains rum this recipe is not suitable to serve to children.
- You could also make these without the dark and stormy syrup and lime zest for plain vegan crème brûlées but I do recommend to taste the mixture before pouring it out to check if it needs more vanilla. It can remain a bit on the soy side of things if you don't.
- These crème brûlées keep covered for about 3 days in the fridge. Just be sure to hold off on adding the burnt sugar topping until right before serving.
- Leftover dark and stormy syrup can be kept in a closed container in the fridge for up to 3 months, use it to make more crème brûlées or to flavor a freshly baked cake for example.
- If this is available to you, please consider using fair trade sugar for this recipe.
