Coconut Caramel Sauce Recipe (Vegan Caramel) - The Yummy Bowl (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between caramel and vegan caramel? ›

Because caramel is essentially just sugar, in its purest form, it is vegan. However, it is often mixed with dairy cream, butter, or milk, which is why it's important to always check the back of store-bought caramel candy.

Heavy Cream

This cow's by-product is usually added to caramel sauce to create a rich, creamy texture, which isn't suitable for a vegan diet.

Combine brown sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan and bring ingredients to a boil. Remove thickened mixture from heat before adding (optional) vanilla extract. Let the caramel cool slightly before using. The result is an impossibly rich sauce that is guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Some form of dairy — typically butter and/or heavy cream — is usually added to the mixture at either the beginning or the end of cooking. This addition makes the caramel richer, thicker, and lighter in color, lending more viscosity and rounder flavor.

Grainy caramel is caused by crystallization, which is easy to avoid (and can also be fixed). Caramel becomes grainy when the sugars crystallize, a process that happens when the melted sugar splashes up onto the cold sides of the pan. It loses its moisture and turns back into a sugar crystal.

The base for this 5-ingredient caramel is coconut cream, dates, and arrowroot starch, which are blended until creamy and smooth. This makes up the liquid ingredients, which are added to a bit of coconut sugar and cooked until glossy and just bubbly.

However, not all Starbucks syrups and sauces are dairy-free, and it can be confusing. Case in point: the caramel syrup is vegan but the caramel sauce is not. Here is everything you need to know about these flavor-enhancers so you can order with confidence the next time you stroll up to a Starbucks.

Like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning. The trouble is that vegan butter does not contain milk solids and also most do not contain any significant protein. This means that straight from the container, the majority of vegan butters will not brown like non-vegan butter.

Starbursts were launched in the USA in 1967, and have since become hugely popular in the country. Unfortunately for American plant-based eaters, however, they feature gelatin in their ingredients. This means that they aren't suitable for vegans or vegetarians.

What if I forgot to put butter in my caramel sauce? ›

Yes, you can make a caramel sauce without butter, but you have to add either water or... something else. If you use water, you'll get a pure caramel syrup that looks like honey.

This wee amount of acid prevents any crystallization—from subtle graininess to total disasters. In other words, it leads you toward the smoothest, shiniest, silkiest caramel sauce.

Overheating the mixture

Follow the recipe carefully, and never melt your caramel on your stove's highest setting—it will cause the caramel to scorch and taste burnt. Once it gets a burnt or bitter flavor, it can't be saved. Luckily, sugar is inexpensive, so you can always start over!

Dry caramel uses just sugar, while wet caramel features water in the manufacturing process. To make caramel, you'll need to heat the sugar to around 170 degrees Celsius. This temperature is the point at which its molecules break down and form new compounds.

If you're wondering, the caramel syrup is vegan but the caramel drizzle is not. We're baffled, too. Barista tip: Skip the Dark Chocolate Mocha—it's made with ground chocolate that contains dairy.

Carmel and caramel are not different spellings of the same word. Caramel is the correct spelling if you're talking about food or colors. Carmel is a misspelling when used in those contexts, but it is a word that can be used as a name for people or places.