Vegan Queen of Puddings with Rhubarb & Ginger
This vegan Queen of Puddings celebrates the tastes and textures of wonderful rhubarb. Mixed with zesty ginger and fluffy meringue, this is a tasty twist on this classic dessert.
Want more vegan recipes? Try 3 issues of Vegan Food & Living magazine for just £3!
The following recipe is the perfect vegan dessert to follow a savoury meal. The custard, sugar and meringue work well together to create a sweet rhubarb-topped treat.
What is Queen of puddings?
Queen of puddings is a traditional British dessert that is said to date back to the 1600s.
Traditionally, it consists of a thick egg mixture which is dressed with jam and topped with meringue.
In this recipe, we’ve substituted the jam for poached rhubarb and have of course made the base vegan, using plant milk and white bread.
The dessert is supposedly named in honour of Queen Victoria.
What is aquafaba?
Aquafaba is a vegan alternative to egg whites.
It’s easy to foam up, and you can’t actually overwhisk it like you can egg whites, which makes it ideal for achieving the peaks needed to create meringue.
The ingredient is essentially brine that chickpeas are kept in, which can be drained from store bought tins.
Aquafaba is used to thicken mixtures for various types of recipes.
It’s full of protein, so it’s perfect for binding products and is a great alternative to non-vegan ingredients such as eggs.
What plant-based milk should I use?
There are so many vegan milks available, but they do have different consistencies.
Thicker plant-based milks are better for baking because they are able to bond the ingredients together well, which results in a denser mixture. Soy milk has the most protein out of all the alternative milks so provides the most structure for baking projects.
It’s full of omega-3 acids which are healthy fats, so soy milk is a great healthy alternative to dairy milk.
Soy milk also has a mild taste which means it’s easy to enhance with flavour in baking recipes, as with the rich rhubarb and ginger flavours in this recipe.
Another great milk for baking is almond milk. It can be used in place of dairy milk, but can cause products to bake faster as it is more watery than dairy milk.
This means it evaporates, causing it to set quickly.
Almond milk is naturally high in both vitamin D and E and unsweetened almond milk is low in sugar, which can be beneficial for your diet, although sweetened almond milk better imitates the sweetness of dairy milk.
Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Calories: 378
Servings: 5
Rating:
Total Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Calories: 378
Servings: 5
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 5)
- For the poached rhubarb
- 40 40 g sugar
- 40 40 ml water
- 0.4 0.4 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 60 60 g rhubarb
- For the base
- 80 80 ml plant-based milk
- 10 10 g caster sugar
- 0.2 0.2 tsp ground ginger
- 0.2 0.2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 0.6 0.6 tbsp vegan custard powder
- 0.4 0.4 tbsp water
- 28 28 g pre-sliced white bread
- For the meringue
- 24 24 ml aquafaba
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 25 25 g caster sugar
Method
- To poach the rhubarb, add the sugar, water and ginger to a pan and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling rapidly, add the rhubarb and remove it from the heat instantly. Leave the rhubarb in the syrup until the mixture has cooled.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F/Gas Mark 4. For the base, bring the milk, sugar, ground ginger and fresh ginger to a boil. Whisk in the custard powder mixture until thick.
- Place the bread slices into a food processor and blitz to make breadcrumbs.
- Mix the custard with the breadcrumbs and put in an ovenproof dish to bake for 40 minutes or until set.
- Once the custard base is baked, cover it with the poached rhubarb. Then, for the meringue, whisk the aquafaba and cream of tartar to stiff peaks.
- Whilst still whisking, slowly add the sugar, until the mixture is thick and glossy.
- Turn the oven up to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Pipe the meringue onto the poached rhubarb and place in the oven for 10 minutes, until the meringue starts to brown.
- Allow it to cool slightly before serving.
Each 227g serving provides:
2.5g Fat, 0.5g Saturates, 84g Carbohydrate, 65g Sugars, 2g Fibre, 5.4g Protein, 0.47g Salt.
Still craving something sweet? Check out these indulgent vegan dessert recipes!
