This simple Coconut Vanilla Custard is delicious, low in sugar and easily customisable for dairy, egg and gluten intolerances. It also makes a perfect base for naturally flavoured strawberry and chocolate custard versions.
Just the other day I received an email from S, Mr Chipconnoisseur’s older sister, asking for help with some allergy-friendly recipes as she had recently been diagnosed with a bunch of intolerances. Hi S *waves*
Now “a bunch” is probably an understatement as she basically can no longer have wheat, gluten, dairy, almonds, eggs, soy, legumes, yeast and peanuts. When I looked at the list, most of the substitutes I had in mind went straight out the window. Silken tofu could no longer be used in place of eggs because it’s made from soy, most flourless cakes required almond meal, and even my favourite vegan chocolate contains carob, which believe it or not is a legume!
As I needed to make custard for another recipe I was working on, I decided to put myself in S’s shoes and give it a go without using dairy, or eggs, or wheat (some corn flours are wheaten!), or soy. Almond milk was out too.
And so, I made a coconut cream and egg version for us, then an experimental non-egg, non-dairy etc version for S. The result was surprisingly good! The egg version obviously had a richer taste and colour from the yolks but, if faced with the prospect of do or die, I would be happy to have a bowl of the egg-less custard any day. If you are used to the yellowy colour of custard, add a tablespoon or so of carrot juice to the coconut milk. And try to use coconut milk with fewest ingredients that does not contain any ‘numbers’.
Oh and have fun with some flavours too… Vanilla is obviously the base, but why not try chocolate by adding some cocoa or strawberry purée for a fruity version instead.
So, dear reader, what would be the first food you’d try to make if one day you found out you have developed an intolerance to basically all the foods you’ve grown to love?
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp Xylitol (Birch tree sugar) OR 1-2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup coconut milk, mixed well
- 3 egg yolks OR 3 tsp corn flour for egg-free version
- 1 tsp vanilla bean extract
- 2 tbsp corn flour
- Place water and xylitol (or sugar) in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Allow the sugar to dissolve and boil the mixture for about 2 minutes.
- In a bowl or jug, whisk together coconut milk, vanilla bean extract, egg yolks and corn flour, making sure there are no lumps.
- Remove suacepan from heat and pour coconut milk mixture. Place back on the heat, and keep whisking slowly until the mixture thickens and just comes up to the boil.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool a little before transferring to your serving dishes.
- Once the custard is cooked and slightly cooled, add cocoa powder or strawberry puree and whisk to blend the flavour through. Divide between serving dishes and chill.
Oh my, I have no idea what I would do. But wow, this sounds and looks amazing really, Love the flavours too.
You are a fantastic sister in law! Question. Since coconut milk tastes quite sweet would you recommend omitting the sugar also?
You definitely could! I mean between the coconut milk and vanilla bean paste the custard is quite sweet. Feel free to make it sugar free!
Yum! That looks wonderful!!
Wow what a daunting list of intolerances! The custards look lovely though and definitely worth a try.
hi name is pat saw your post sounds so cool i have intolerances also mine is wheat glutin dairy nuts and more but the custard sounds so enjoyable may try it thankyou so much, yours pat Rowden from elizabeth s.a. if you would like some recipes from me for home made bread that i do or home made cake very nice let me know ok bye for now pat.
Thanks Pat, That bread sounds really good actually. I may drop you a line for the recipe
What a difficult situation – my heart goes out to her. Your custard must have sent her over the moon with glee
I made this for dessert tonight in chocolate and vanilla swirl, and it was amazing. Thank you for a fab recipe.
I much prefer the idea of coconut milk to soy milk for custard. They look fantastic!
Loving this! Coconut sounds like an awesome base for custard, and it’s great to have allergy-free recipes in my toolbox when I need them!
I would be very unhappy to develop an allergy to anything other than offal! Never tried strawberry custard, but I like the sound of it.
Cheers,
Robyn.
Your comment really made me laugh Robyn. I am with you. I grew up eating raspberry custard so the strawberry version is really close to my heart.
I love how friendly this is to those with allergies – your sis in law is very lucky! And you can never go wrong usin coconut milk!
Yummy custards!
Loving this recipe adaptation to every intolerance Lactose, eggs, nuts and so many issues but a beautiful yummy recipe to boot! So what flavor was your favorite chocolate or strawberry?
I think I liked strawberry because it reminded me of the raspberry flavoured custard I used to have as a child. Very yummy!
This would be a good alternative for those who dont take milk, nice one Martyna.
Hmmmm! What a beautiful shot! I don’t know which flavor is my favorite and have to try them all. I love that you used coconut milk. You always make nice allergy-free recipes, Martyna!
Fructose intolerance introduces a whole other set of complications and would eliminate the coconut milk as well. Your recipe looks great and I’m sure S was thrilled someone made the effort to accommodate her allergies.
Great recipe! I tried it today for one of my children who has a list of intolerances longer than her arm (gluten, dairy, yeast, sugar, cocoa etc…). It was very easy to make, took about 10 minutes all up. And it was definitely a big hit – with all kids. Thank you!
Great to hear that everyone liked it and you’ve found it easy to make SM – it’s one of those recipes that eventhough made with unusual ingredients it tastes really, really good.
This recipe sounds great
can’t wait to try it out. Just wondering, how long do you think it would keep in the fridge for?
I’m guessing 3-4 days, but probably best to consume within a couple. Enjoy
It’s fantastic to see you trying to find something like this for someone with so many allergies- I am actually in the same boat- except sadly I’m even allergic to coconut. But I too can’t have almond flour, coconut flour, anything coconut actually (oil,cream,milk etc.), egg yolk, even the sugar alcohols. Pretty much the only things I’ve found that I can “bake” with, if you can even call it that, are flaxseed meal, chia seeds, cocoa powder, egg whites, dairy (in small amounts) and stevia (which I think we all know stevia doesn’t do too well in baked goods). I make it work but definitely leaves much to be desired. I’m used to it now, but I totally feel that no matter how many or what the allergies, it’s worth spending the time to come up with something at least half-decent that fit the “desert” category since we all need something tasty at times. Thanks for posting- found this recipe through pinterest btw.
Made this tonight and it was fantastic! great warm and cold! It probably doesnt even really need any sugar
This is great! Thanks for sharing…any thoughts on a replacer for the corn flour? I am in S’s boat and can’t have corn in addition to the wheat, dairy, soy, eggs…
Hi Suzan, you could use potato starch in the same amounts or if you are after an organic and unprocessed substitute, try using Kuzu root. It comes in the shape of little “rocks” that dissolve in water, just as corn flour does. I found it in a good quality organic grocer / health food store. You may need to play with the ratios, but I’d say to use 1/3 less kuzu than cornflour. Let me know how it goes.
Hello,
Glad I found your site, I was looking for a recipe for custard cream for my grandchildren that are gluten, soy, egg, nut and dairy free. Can I use full cream canned coconut milk? Thank you for the recipe.
Mary
Hi Mary, yes you can use canned (full cream) coconut milk or try coconut cream for an even creamier consistency. Try getting organic brand as it doesn’t contain any other preservatives or additives. Hope your grand kids enjoy this.
how much strawberry puree would you add?
To taste, but at least a tablespoon
Thanks very much Martyna, I love your blog & this dessert. My daughter is 7months and I am breast feeding & need to find foods for her that don’t contain dairy, soy, egg or rice. I can’t eat them either as she gets blood in her poo. She’s mostly allergic to rice. But this recipe is great. Do you think it would taste any good with custard powder instead of corn flour?
I think it would, be sure to check the ingredient label on the custard powder – most will contain eggs, soy and dairy. You could try using potato starch instead of cornflour, or even kuzu (Japanese root veg) that has similar properties to cornflour.