This vegan custard is rich and smooth and totally delicious! It can be made as a classic dessert topping or as a pastry cream. Easy to make with simple pantry ingredients.
This vegan custard is so good! It makes the perfect dessert topping for puddings like our vegan sticky toffee pudding (pictured above) or vegan malva pudding.
It can be served hot or cold and makes a fabulous dessert eaten on its own.
This custard is also totally divine served over vegan apple crisp or vegan apple cake. It’s also divine on the sheet cake version of our vegan gingerbread cake.
It’s also extremely versatile because with one simple adjustment (a little extra cornstarch) it can firm up into the perfect pastry cream that you can use in your vegan custard slices or eclairs.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Ingredient Notes
- Super fine sugar – also known as caster sugar. You can also use regular white granulated sugar if you don’t have any super fine sugar on hand.
- Coconut milk – should be canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.
- Turmeric – is just for color and can be omitted or used in a smaller quantity if you don’t want it to be as yellow as ours turned out.
- Cornstarch – for a pourable custard (as pictured) we use ⅓ cup (42g) of cornstarch. If you’re using it as a pastry cream for something like custard slices, then the amount of cornstarch increases to ½ cup (64g).
- Soy milk – can be replaced with another non-dairy milk such as almond, cashew or oat milk.
How To Make Vegan Custard
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Mix the cornstarch with a little of the non-dairy milk until smooth.
- Add coconut milk and soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) to a saucepan and whisk in the cornstarch mix. Add super fine sugar, vanilla extract and turmeric.
- Heat on medium to high heat, stirring all the while until it thickens dramatically.
- Add vegan butter and whisk in.
- Now it’s ready to serve as a dessert topping for cakes or pies or puddings etc.
- Or you can allow it to cool and serve it cold over fresh or canned fruits.
Vegan Pastry Cream
- If you want to make this custard to use as a thick vegan pastry cream in other puddings like vegan custard slices, then simply increase the amount of cornstarch from ⅓ cup (42g) to ½ cup (64g).
- Follow the recipe as usual and then place the cooked custard into a glass bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap (this is optional) so that the plastic touches the surface of the custard. This prevents it from forming a skin on top.
- When the custard has cooled to room temperature place it into the fridge to chill completely and firm up.
- When you’re ready to use it if there is any lumpiness then simply use your electric whisk or an immersion blender to whisk it up again and it’s ready to use.
Vegan Chocolate Pastry Cream
- For chocolate pastry cream omit the turmeric and add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the saucepan with your other ingredients at the beginning and whisk in.
- Then, when you stir in your vegan butter at the end, add in ½ – 1 cup (88g-175g) of chopped vegan chocolate or chocolate chips and melt it in/whisk it into the custard.
Storing and Reheating
This custard stays really good for 3-4 days in the fridge and can be reheated on the stovetop. If it’s a little too thick then simply add in a splash of non-dairy milk and whisk it in as it heats.
It’s also really good served cold.
More Vegan Dessert Toppings
- Vegan Whipped Cream
- Vegan Ice Cream
- Toasted Coconut
- Vegan Chocolate Ganache
- Vegan Chocolate Sauce
- Vegan Caramel Sauce
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Custard
This vegan custard is rich and smooth and totally delicious! It can be made as a classic dessert topping or as a pastry cream. Easy to make with simple pantry ingredients.
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Servings: 12
Calories: 155kcal
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup Cornstarch (42g)
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk such as almond/cashew/oat
- 14 ounces Canned Coconut Milk (400ml) Full Fat, Unsweetened
- ½ cup Super Fine Sugar (115g) Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- 4 Tbsp Vegan Butter
Instructions
- Mix the cornstarch with a little of the non-dairy milk until smooth.
- Add coconut milk and soy milk (or other non-dairy milk) to a saucepan and whisk in the cornstarch mix. Add super fine sugar, vanilla extract and turmeric.
- Heat on medium to high heat, stirring all the while until it thickens dramatically.
- Add vegan butter and whisk in.
- Now it’s ready to serve as a dessert topping for cakes or pies or puddings etc.
- Or you can allow it to cool and serve it cold over fresh or canned fruits.
Notes
- Cornstarch – for a pourable custard (as in the photos) use ⅓ cup (42g) of cornstarch. If you want to use it as a pastry cream for something like custard slices, then the amount of cornstarch should increase to ½ cup (64g). See more about this below.
- Super fine sugar – also known as caster sugar. You can also use regular white granulated sugar if you don’t have any super fine sugar on hand.
- Turmeric – is just for color and can be omitted or used in a smaller quantity if you don’t want it to be as yellow as ours turned out.
- Vegan Pastry Cream: If you want to make this custard to use as a thick vegan pastry cream in other puddings like vegan custard slices, then use ½ cup (64g) of cornstarch. Follow the recipe as usual and then place the cooked custard into a glass bowl and allow it to cool for a few minutes. Cover it with plastic wrap (optional) so that the plastic touches the surface of the custard. This prevents it from forming a skin on top. When the custard has cooled to room temperature place it into the fridge to chill completely and firm up. When you’re ready to use it if there is any lumpiness then simply use your electric whisk or an immersion blender to whisk it up again and it’s ready to use.
- Vegan Chocolate Pastry Cream: For chocolate pastry cream omit the turmeric and add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the saucepan with your other ingredients at the beginning and whisk in. Then, when you stir in your vegan butter at the end, add in ½ – 1 cup (88g-175g) of chopped vegan chocolate or chocolate chips and melt it in/whisk it into the custard.
- Storing and Reheating: This custard stays really good for 3-4 days in the fridge and can be reheated on the stovetop. If it’s a little too thick then simply add in a splash of non-dairy milk and whisk it in as it heats. It’s also really good served cold.
Nutrition
Serving: 1Serve | Calories: 155kcal | Carbohydrates: 14.6g | Protein: 1.3g | Fat: 9.9g | Saturated Fat: 5.8g | Sodium: 76mg | Sugar: 10.1g
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Rate it & leave your feedback in the comments section below, or tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag #lovingitvegan
This is my go to custard. I use it for my trifle as well as the filling for my stuffed doughnuts. Super delicious.
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Ronisha!
I love this recipe! I leave out the coconut milk ‘cuz I don’t like coconut. Didn’t add butter or turmeric. And I added 1/2 cup of lemon juice (then increased the cornstarch by another tablespoon or so), and it’s amazing! I use it as yogurt in parfaits, and it’s YUM! Thank you so much!
(Oh — so I just added more oat milk instead of the coconut milk)
Thank you so much for sharing your additions and for your great review!
Hi! I made this today for my trifle and it was wonderful! Wow! Thank you so much!
That’s awesome Anu! Thanks for the great review!
Hi Alison, I plan on making this for a vegan Manchester Tart so will be using the pastry cream version! Do you recommend using spreadable vegan butter from a tub or the foil wrapped, block kind? Thanks!
Hi Rachael, either/or will do fine, but lately I’ve been using Flora Plant butter (which comes in the hard blocks) and it’s working great for everything! 🙂
This is amazing EVERY time we make it! It’s easy to make and it’s DELICIOUS!!
Yay! Thanks so much for the wonderful review!
AWESOME! THANKS FOR SHARING
Super delicious, creamy and rich and to use as is! I will try it on apple crumble though..
Awesome, thanks Anna!
Looks yummy have you tried arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch?
Hi Barb, I haven’t tried this with arrowroot but I think it would work, however I believe you may need up to twice as much arrowroot as the cornstarch to get the same results.
Could this be used as cream brulée?
Hi Michelle, I’m not sure! I haven’t ever made a creme brulée though it’s definitely on my list to do at some point! So I’m just not sure what’s needed for that.