This recipe for a vegan salted caramel bread pudding is the best one you want to bake right now. Winter is coming here in Australia. So time for bowls of soup, hot toasted sandwiches and comforting desserts like this bread pudding. I am not a big fan of bread puddings. I don’t really like bread soaking in milk, cream and sugar and then baking it. However this bread pudding is a game changer. It is quick and easy to make with staple pantry ingredients. Further I love what the coconut milk and jaggery does to the sauce. Aaah the sweet and salty caramel like sauce is heavenly.
Notes on Making the Salted Caramel Sauce
Using Jaggery: I use jaggery as the sweetener for this vegan bread pudding. Used in cooking as an unrefined sugar in many Asian countries, jaggery is the concentrated product of cane juice, date or palm sap. It is thick and gooey when melted with a great caramel like taste. If you don’t have jaggery, you can substitute with maple syrup, honey or brown sugar.
Using Arrowroot Powder: To thicken the sauce, I use arrowroot powder. Arrowroot is extracted from the tropical arrowroot plant (Maranta arundinacea). It is naturally gluten-free and grain-free with a neutral flavour and aroma. This powder is supposed to be easily digested and a good thickening substitute for corn starch or corn flour.
Using Coconut Milk: Coconut milk makes the bread pudding sauce vegan and dairy-free. Also, coconut milk on it’s own is a bit savoury. So the sweet jaggery and salt when mixed in with the coconut milk create a nice salty sweet taste. The arrowroot powder thickens the milk enough to create the salted caramel sauce.
Putting together the Vegan Salted Caramel Bread Pudding
Next we just pour the salted caramel like sauce over the day old or stale bread pieces and bake it. Day old bread absorbs liquid like a sponge. And it bakes well to crisp the top of the bread pudding. I scattered chopped pecan pieces and coconut flakes on top to give added crunch to the pudding. So that’s it – an easy heavenly dessert using fuss-free ingredients that also happens to be healthy-ish 🙂
Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions or your thoughts. If you like the recipe for my vegan salted caramel bread pudding, please do leave a rating below. Don’t forget to tag #urbanfoodlover and follow along on Instagram for lots of Foodie Inspiration 🙂
Vegan Salted Caramel Bread Pudding Recipe
Equipment
- oven
Ingredients
- 4 slices day old stale bread torn into pieces
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 200 grams jaggery See notes on sweetener
- 1 tbsp Arrowroot / Tapioca powder See notes on Arrowroot powder
- 4 tbsp water
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 1/2 cup coconut flakes / chip To top the bowls
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 180 deg centigrade.
- In a small bowl mix in the arrowroot powder and water. Stir and set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, add in the coconut milk, jaggery , sea salt and cinnamon powder. Stir to ensure they are mixed in.
- Heat on a low to medium heat to begin melting the jaggery in the coconut milk. About 5-7 minutes. Taste to ensure the sweet and salty flavour is as per your preference, else add in more if you would like to.
- Add in the arrowroot powder mix into the coconut milk liquid. Stir for a few minutes. The coconut milk will start thickening and become custard like. At this remove from heat. Set aside and let cool for a few minutes.
- In a large glass baking tray or use 4 ramekins, line the broken bread slices. Pour the sweat and salty coconut milk custard over the bread slices. Scatter the chopped pecans and coconut chips on top. Sprinkle some more cinnamon powder (optional)
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes until the bread pudding starts bubbling and the top layer appears all brown and crisp.
- Serve with berries or ice cream of choice. For a completely vegan and dairy-free option use a vegan coconut milk ice cream.