No-Bake Eggless Chocolate Creme Caramel

Creme caramel is  one of the most popular dessert around. You'd easily find them on the menu in any restaurants or cafes. It is essentially a custard baked in a mold with a layer of caramel at the bottom. When inverted out for serving, the silky custard pudding sits beautifully presented in its pool of sweet syrupy caramel sauce. What's not to like?

As much as I like creme caramel, I rarely make this dessert at home. It was probably years ago the last time I made one. I remember it came out one pockmarked ugly looking pud! Creme caramel is not as easy to make as it seems, at least to me. I always wondered how other people seem to make such  beautiful and perfectly smooth looking creme caramel.

When I saw this divine looking Creme Caramel  from 'Cherry On A Cake', I couldn't believe that it was EGGLESS and required NO BAKING! It really piqued my curiosity - maybe this is THE secret to silky smooth caramel. I wasted no time at all and was in the kitchen right away. 

Well, what do you know, I ran out of milk and had only chocolate flavoured milk. I didn't want to drive out to the store just to buy milk, so what the heck, chocolate creme caramel it was! My gamble actually paid off. It  was lite, silky, chocolaty and yet surprisingly creamy. While my Daughter G and I agreed the pud was yummy,  it definitely could do better without the bitter taste (I had overcooked the caramel!),  my dear Hubby thought otherwise. He liked the slight bitterness and said it balances the sweetness of the pud.   

From now on, this  no-bake eggless version will be my (secret) go to recipe for creme caramel! Purists may frown and scoff  at this fake pud but who cares when you can eat to your heart's content and put your cholesterol concious mind at peace! Anyone who is also averse to the slightest whiff of eggy smells would surely welcome this fake version. But what I like best about this recipe is the no-bake part ... which means no tedious water bath and no fiddling & poking about to check if the pud is baked. I can rest assured that my creme caramel comes out smooth & silky every time .... and  not a pockmarked flop!


No- Bake Eggless Chocolate Creme Caramel

(Recipe adapted from "Cherry on a Cake" here ) 

Chocolate Custard :
2 Tbsp powdered gelatin
1250 ml chocolate flavoured full cream milk
80 gm castor sugar
3 Tbsp custard powder
2 Tbsp cocoa powder

Caramel :
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp water


Method:

Make caramel first

Put sugar and water in a small pot and heat on medium flame until it starts to turn a light golden brown. Watch it carefully and don't turn away (not even a sec!) when you're doing this because once the syrup turns golden it darkens very quickly after that and will continue to do so after removing from heat. Do not stir. Once the sugar/caramel turns a light golden brown, remove from heat, swirl the pot a little to let the colour even out and then pour directly into your mould or ramekin dishes. Swirl the mould around so that the caramel covers the bottom and reaches up the sides a little. Let cool and harden. Do this quickly as the caramel hardens in no time.

Make custard

Pour the milk into a medium pot and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let the gelatin soften a little. Meanwhile mix  the sugar and custard powder in a bowl, then add into the milk/gelatin mixture. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer STIRRING ALL THE TIME with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Sieve the custard. Pour the sieved custard into the mould over the hardened caramel and chill in the refrigerator overnight or until set.