I’m going to be completely honest with you here: I don’t usually trust vegan substitutes when it comes to baking, because fats from butter, milk, or yoghurt cause specific chemical reactions that give me the textures and flavour I crave.
And while I’m not personally taking part in Veganuary, my vegan friend’s recent visit led me to try a simple recipe I’d never heard of before; caramel based on a dried fruit.
The two-ingredient recipe was worryingly simple, I thought. I had to warm up some coconut milk, cover the fruit in it, and blend the mixture with a bit of coarse salt.
To my surprise, it’s now become my favourite version of the sweet sauce; slightly nuttier and less tooth-singingly sweet than the regular kind, with an almost tahini-like savoury tang that balances its natural sugars perfectly.
Dates, which are very high in natural sugars, make a perfect caramel base.
Soaking them in warmed coconut milk makes them plumper and softer than usual (I left mine in for five minutes because they were fresh Medjool kinds; if they’d been older or a bit less plump, I would have let them soak longer).
Their texture, which is naturally jammy and fudgy, becomes creamy and satisfying when blended.
While some recommend using any plant-based milk or even water for the vegan caramel, I loved coconut milk because its nuttiness enhanced the depth of the date taste, and also because its high fat content allowed the flavour to bloom.
It makes much more sense why celeb chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, and Nigella Lawson add dates to their sticky toffee pudding recipes now ― when the fruits steam, they produce a similar effect.
But dates are their own plant, coming from the date palm.
Bon Appetit writes that they make amazing milkshakes, are lovely wrapped in bacon, and should even have a place on your cheese board.
Given that they’re fibre-rich and even contain iron, potassium, and manganese, I reckon I can try to delude myself into thinking my January dessert obsession is in keeping with my 2025 healthier eating goals...
