Vegan Custard (homemade recipes & good brands)
Most people enjoy some hot custard over favourite puddings, and it’s perfectly possible to make your own vegan custard, which is more affordable than store-bought versions.
This simple homemade vegan custard (The Veg Space) is super-simple to make, with just a few ingredients (plant milk/cream, sugar and vanilla). Plus turmeric to make it yellow (not too much or you’ll make curry custard!)
Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (vanilla, nutmeg and chocolate are unsafe near animal friends). If serving with lemon or rhubarb desserts, bin the scraps, as acids may harm compost creatures (same with tomato and alliums – onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives). It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).
For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch top opening closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.
Oat drink make the best thick creamy custard (don’t use rice milk!). Once you’ve mastered the basic recipe, you can vary things up. You can stir through melted squares of chocolate to make chocolate custard, turn it into a boozy custard for Christmas puddings with a little rum.
Apparently, Chinese people eat more custard than us! It’s also popular in Italy, where people often eat custard-filled pastries for breakfast.
Homemade Vegan Brandy Custard
This vegan brandy custard (Doves Farm) uses sugar, vanilla and plant milk with cornflour, then adds in some brandy for festive recipes (you can sub with spiced rum, if preferred).
How to make simple vegan custard
- Pour 100ml of cold oat drink into a bowl, add 25g to 35g of cornflour (depending on how thick you want your custard) then whisk to a cream.
- Warm 400ml of oat drink in a pan, add 50g of sugar and a pinch of salt. Heat until it steams (but don’t over-boil). Take pan off the heat, slowly pour in a splash of hot milk, while whisking until smooth.
- Pour back into pan, still whisking. Once it thickens to coat the back of a spoon, whisk for another minute or so.
- Remove from heat, and add 1 teaspoon of natural vanilla.
- Try this vegan chocolate custard (Veggieful) – just five ingredients!
Where to buy good vegan custard
Just Wholefoods Natural Vanilla Custard Powder is made from organic ingredients, just mix with oat drink and natural sweetener, then thicken on the hob. One pack (100g) makes 5 pints (20 servings).
Recycle packaging at supermarket bag bins, if your kerbside doesn’t recycle.
The other brands you’ll find in shops are:
- The Coconut Collab (most ethical, no monkeys used to harvest coconuts)
- Oatly (has recently switched from palm to coconut oil)
- Alpro says its plastic pots can now be recycled (leave caps on)
Ambrosia has now got on board with a plant-based custard. But of course like so many big brands that try to get on the bandwagon, it contains palm oil (which most vegans don’t eat, due to concerns over orangutan habitats).
