Understanding How to Make Vegan Custard
Vegan custards are not difficult to make once you get beyond the egg-replacement bit. Recipes included this week are Blueberry Custard Pie and Asparagus-Leek Quiche
Yotam Ottolenghi once observed, “Custard is controversial: what makes it a custard, how best to cook it and, crucially, is it to be eaten or put in a pie and thrown?” I agree…a custard’s meaning is never completely clear.
According to Larousse Gastronomique, a book I often refer to when searching for culinary clarity, a custard can be a hot or cold mixture, set or thickened with eggs or egg yolks. Custards usually refer to sweet mixtures of milk or cream that are set or slightly clotted with eggs, but savory custards also exist – such as quiche.
There are two main types of custards: pouring custards or custard sauces and custards that are baked or set. Examples of pouring custards and custard sauces include crème anglaise, custard sauce, crème pâtissière and sabayon (or the Italian equivalent zabaglione). Baked custards include crème caramel, crème brûlée, quiche and steamed or baked fish or vegetable custards.
Cooks rely on lightly setting an egg with a liquid to make a successful custard. The amounts of egg and liquid vary and determine the relative thickness of the custard. So, in other words, custards are totally dependent on an egg to create the proper texture and mouthfeel. Or are they?
By established culinary definition, a custard is only made using an egg and this clearly rules out the possibility of making a vegan custard. I think this is the wrong way to look at it – ingredients don’t necessarily determine a dish. I think it is ultimately the mouthfeel, texture and flavor that determine a recipe’s DNA.
In the case of a standard custard, the egg’s ability to set a liquid is determined by slowly coagulating proteins over lower temperatures. Starch is sometimes added to the mix to lend a hand in thickening by gelatinizing. In my mind and in my experience, replacing an egg is merely understanding how much protein to use, what kind of protein and whether a starch is necessary in the mix. As an example, I combine protein-rich cashew nuts with non-dairy milk and vanilla to create a slightly thickened sauce that is very similar to a crème anglaise. I rely on slowly heating lemon juice, tapioca starch and a coloring agent to thicken my custard-like lemon curd, then finish it with protein-rich cashew butter and soy milk to create an end result nearly identical to what most people call lemon curd. I’m also a big fan of using protein-rich silken tofu – the super soft variation. When combined with starches and slowly heated, vegan custard mixtures using silken tofu set just like an egg-based custard.
As a vegan chef, I think it is time to move beyond traditional definitions of foods we all love to eat that are based on using animal-derived ingredients. If I can create a custard with a familiar texture, mouthfeel and flavor using healthy plant-based ingredients – and diners believe they are eating a custard, then what difference does a definition matter?
I have a sweet and a savory pie recipe using my vegan custard techniques in the recipes I am presenting this week. Be sure to check out the list below of my other ‘custard’ recipes on my website: myfreshattitude.com.
I hope you find this week’s commentary and recipes inspiring…perhaps even to make one of my recipes or to develop something of your own. In any case, I would love to receive your feedback. Feel free to spark a conversation by leaving a comment below and sharing with me your vegan custard experiences.