Vegan Crème Caramel

I haven’t had crème caramel since before I went vegan (which was years ago). But this vegan crème caramel tasted almost exactly as I remember the egg-based ones tasting. Without the weird eggy flavour I disliked about flans. So it’s a win-win in my book!

It’s smooth, creamy and just melts in your mouth. Plus, there’s no baking in a water bath required. You simply cook the “flan” on the stovetop, pour it over the caramel in the ramekins and let it set in the fridge. And boom, you’ve got vegan crème caramel. The perfect dessert when you’re planning on having people over (when that becomes a thing again).

How to make it

It’s an easy 2 step process. Start by making the caramel that goes in the bottom of the ramekins. Since this is a wet caramel, it’s important not to stir it as that could promote crystallization. So let it cook down until it’s a deep amber colour, swirling the pan occasionally if you see it colouring unevenly. Then pour it into the ramekins.

While it hardens, make the flan. It’s very similar to the crème pâtissière, wherein you mix the dry ingredients together with a bit of the milk, then add it to the saucepan with the rest of the milk plus the vanilla and cook the mixture until it thickens.

Then you simply pour it over the caramel, put cling film directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate it to let the flan set and the caramel dissolve.

Why tapioca starch and cornstarch

I originally made it only using cornstarch. Which worked well but it wasn’t exactly the right texture. If I used too little for a softer flan, it wouldn’t hold up as well, and if I added more to compensate, it was too firm and would kind of “break” or crack when unmolded and when a scoop was taken.

I know most recipes use agar agar for that reason (and I’m sure they’re great), but I wanted to avoid that. It’s great in certain applications, but it does tend to have a firm and ”rubbery” (for lack of a better word) texture to it once it sets. I preferred to have a softer and lighter texture for the flan.

Tapioca starch, on the other hand, yields a bouncy and almost elastic result once set. Perfect to add “stretch” to the crème caramel to avoid it cracking. 100% tapioca starch was not the answer, it resulted in a strange and slimy alien-like blob that was weirdly chewy. So it was just a matter of finding the right ratio of cornstarch to tapioca starch.

Once that was done, the texture was amazing. Just like an egg-based flan, it jiggles, holds well, but somehow still melts in your mouth and scoops like a buttery barely set custard. And because tapioca starch is more “elastic”, it holds it together much better so there’s less chance of cracking.

crème caramel troubleshooting

The caramel hardens before I have time to swirl it

Caramel sets only once it cools, so to give yourself time to swirl it, keep your ramekins warm by keeping them in a warmed oven. And when the caramel is almost ready, take them out to have them near you. That way the caramel won’t harden immediately when you pour it because it won’t be hitting a cold surface.

There’s still hard caramel at the bottom of my ramekin

Normally the caramel dissolves into the flan as you’re baking it in the oven. Since we’re not doing that here, it needs to stay in the fridge long enough for the caramel to disslove just from the humidity and moisture of the filling.

Although you could technically flip out the crème caramel the moment the flan has set (about 3-4 hours), if you wan’t allll the sauce with it, it’s best to leave it overnight. But it’s not the end of the world if you don’t and there’s still some caramel left at the bottom. It’ll still be delicious even with a bit less sauce.

My crème caramel has cracks in it after I unmold it

Don’t fret, it happens. Unmolding a bit too forcefully, the filling not being set enough or it not being cooked enough are a few reasons that might happen. But also, flans are delicate in general since they’re softly set, so there’s always a chance it might happen (even with non-vegan ones), there’s no need to worry about it!

My crème caramel isn’t setting

If the filling isn’t cooked well enough on the stovetop before pouring, the starches won’t be well activated. Make sure it’s thickened and that it’s bubbling lightly before transferring it to the ramekins.

If you make this recipe please let me know in the comments! All feedback is very much appreciated and I would love to hear from you! You can also tag me on instagram @the.quaint.kitchen or use the hashtag #thequaintkitchen to share your creations!