Eggless Crème Brûlée - Vegetarian Crème Brûlée

Crème Brûlée is a popular French Dessert made with custard as base and a hard caramel on top. This is a very interesting dessert that can be made quickly (although it needs time for refrigeration) .. With hard crust and soft little gooey inner, it is surely a winner of hearts.. For this month’s Eggless Baking group, Gayathri chose Crème Brûlée and I chose this one from here.

Ingredients

For the Custard

Milk - 3 cups
Vanilla Custard Powder - 1 1/2 table spoons
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Almond Essence - A few drops
Agar Agar Powder - 1 tea spoon
Almonds - 1/4 cup (slivered)
Water - 3/4 cup

For caramel

Light Brown Sugar - 2 table spoons (for caramelizing)
Sugar - 1 table spoon
Water - 1 tea spoon

 

 

 

 

 

Method

Soak the agar agar in 3/4 cup cold water for 5 minutes.
Mix the custard powder with 1/2 cup cold milk and stir well and set aside
Cook the agar agar on a slow flame until it completely dissolves and set aside
Boil the remaining milk with 1/4 cup and when the milk starts boiling, add the custard and continue to cook until you get a smooth sauce
Add the cooked agar agar to the custard and boil for around 5 minutes.
Strain the mixture and cool it slightly
Add half the almonds and transfer them to the serving bowls. I used 4 ramekins
Refrigerate until firm (about 3 hours)

When ready to relish, heat both the sugars in a pan with a tea spoon of water over medium flame till it is caramelized and light golden brown in color
Pour the caramel over the set custard and sprinkle more almonds on top
Serve immediately

Points to note

Do not refrigerate after pouring the caramelized sugar as the sugar may sweat and spoil the appearance
You can also sprinkle sugar on top broil it for a minute until the sugar is melted and caramelized
You can also sprinkle the sugar on top and use a torch and caramelize the sugar