Vegan butterscotch crème brûlée

I hit the vegan dessert jackpot today when I tried a recipe I found for vegan crème brûlée. I've been looking around for a good crème brûlée recipe for a while now and was tossing up between a few. I made my final decision when I came across a website which listed 9 Vegan French Dessert Recipes. The link took me to a recipe from Vegan Good Eats. I had come across this recipe before, and it was on my list of ones to try but since it was such a straight forward recipe I decided it was going to be the one. 

While I was gathering up all of my ingredients I thought that I had run out of vanilla essence so I decided to substitute it for half the amount of butterscotch essence that I bought from Weigh 'N' Pay. There are times in life when you know you made a really good decision, and this was one of them. The butterscotch essence made this taste like some high quality creme caramel. I'm actually so impressed with this recipe. The texture was what I wanted it to be. Smooth and creamy. 

This recipe is also a bit healthier than your average non-vegan crème brûlée. There was none of that cream or coconut cream (that some other vegan recipes use) which is quite high in bad fats. This is definitely a good alternative to the usual decadent creme brulee. 

This vegan crème brûlée also was so quick and easy to make. It was ready within an hour of starting. 

So in conclusion, what more could you possibly want from a dessert? It's tasty, easy and guilt-free :)

Vegan crème brûlée

Recipe adapted from Vegan Good Eats

Makes 4 large ramekins

 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups unsweetened almond milk (I used 2 cups almond milk and 1 cup soy milk...but that's only because I ran out of almond milk)
• 1/3 cup cashew butter (You can also just use a heaped 1/3 cup of raw cashews and put them in the food processor on high until it forms a paste)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 1/2 teaspoon butterscotch essence)
• 1 teaspoon arrowroot powder
• 3/4 teaspoon agar powder (not flakes)

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and go to town until smooth.
2. Strain through a sieve. You’ll remove some of the impurities of the cashew butter.
3. Let sit for 10 minutes, enough for the agar to soak up. Bring to a boil slowly, stirring frequently. Once it boils, reduce the heat and stir constantly for five minutes. Do not walk away as it only takes a few seconds for the mixture to over boil and overflow.
4. Distribute between six ramekins and allow to set for 30-45 minutes at room temperature. You can serve it either at room temperature or put them in the fridge and serve them cold (Agar actually does not need refrigeration to set, so it will set nicely either way)
5. Sprinkle a think layer of sugar on top and using a torch, brûlée the crème. Although you can also use the broiler for this, make sure the oven door is open while you do to avoid recooking the custard. It’s a little trickier.