This pudding happened when I discovered one day that you can thicken coconut milk through nothing more than boiling it and create an extremely delicious pudding that feels absolutely treat like. You can make this using dairy or non dairy ingredients and the results just as good either way.

Salted Caramel Pudding

Anyone remember the packets of powdered, artificially flavored Angel Delight puddings some we used to eat as kids? The stuff you'd mix with milk and let set in the fridge? If I've lost you, these were a heavily processed pudding some of us ate as kids. Like a mousse. Sort of. These salted caramel pudding pots remind me a little of that dessert (in a very good way!) because my Mom would put cream on top sometimes, to jazz it up a bit :)

This pudding is the pudding you can make ahead of time, pop in the fridge and let the kids loose on after dinner. It's not too hard and feels seriously treat like and indulgent. As a side note, if you're making a pudding for the grown ups, adding a table spoon of Baileys liquor and leaving out the salt works very well. Just saying...back to the kids!

Making this pudding feels a bit like making a magic potion. Watching the coconut milk thicken and turn into a thick, silky, golden caramel is nothing less than mesmerising.

I use dates to give this a caramel flavor. Traditional caramel is made by allowing sugar to boil and reduce until it caramelises but since we're not using the refined sugar that's usually used, we rely on the natural sugars in the coconut milk and help them along by adding some dates to sweeten it up even more.

I use my trusty NutriBullet blender (any food processor will do as long as it's powerful enough to get the dates fully blended and smooth )to wizz up the coconut milk, dates, vanilla bean and salt before boiling. You get a very smooth caramel this way, which takes about 10-15 minutes of boiling to reduce and caramelise.

If you're not keen on the salt but love the caramel, simply leave the salt out. I find adding a little salt brings out the flavor but I know many people prefer caramel without.

A word of warning, whilst everything cooked on the stove top is hot the sugars in caramel are especially hot...beware!

Dairy Free Salted Caramel

I use coconut milk in this pudding. I like to try and use dairy less often than I used to these days and using coconut milk is something I'm using more and more. In the past I've made caramel pudding using cream and refined sugar but I way prefer this way and so do the kids.

Coconut milk is really sweet even before you've added the dates, there's no need for any other sugars at all.

I have tried using a plant based cream alternative without much luck.

Coconut milk seems to thicken up in the same way that cream does whereas the dairy free creams available (at least where I am) don't do the job as well. They're fine when using them as a cream replacement, but boiling them hasn't worked out for me. So coconut milk it is!

I do use a little heavy cream in the second layer of this pudding. I've yet to find a dairy free alternative to heavy cream that's Clean and really an alternative. You could use coconut milk here if you wanted to, it may not set as thick as the cream though.

There are some in the shops that whip up well but are full of ingredients I just don't recognise. If you want to keep this whole pudding dairy free I'd suggest layering some banana on top of the caramel and serving like that. Throw on a table spoon of oats for some crunch and perhaps a shake of cinnamon.

Making Ahead

You can make the caramel pudding base part of this recipe up to 2 days ahead of time. If you're doing this, divide the caramel into your pots and cover with food wrap and this will stop the caramel from forming a layer on the top.

Once the caramel has cooled, chilled and thickened up in the fridge, add the whipped cream on top and they'll happily sit in the fridge waiting for you to resist them. Sometimes I add some chopped banana and a sprinkling of cocoa or cinnamon right at the last minute. If you're doing this, chop the banana right as you're serving them so it doesn't go brown.

Recipe Notes

Once you've blended the dates with the coconut milk, vanilla and dates, boil the caramel in a really good quality non stick saucepan that has sides double the height of the ingredients. The caramel boils quite violently and gets hot, using a high sided pan helps stop any bubbling over the top
Make sure you're stirring the caramel often. It'll be bubbling away and needs to be moved around frequently
It'll take between 10-15 minutes to boil down. You'll see a change in color, it'll get darker, and the caramel will reduce by about half, become glossy and thicken up
Have your pots ready to pour the caramel into and cover them immediately with food wrap
Leave them to cool, covered, on the work top before refrigerating them for at least a couple of hours

More Clean eating Puddings

How To Make Salted Caramel Pudding

Ingredients

For the caramel
¾ Cup Coconut milk Full fat
1 tsp Vanilla extract
½ tsp Rock salt (optional)
6 large Dates Pitted
For the chocolate topping
¾ Cup Heavy cream
3 oz Chocolate I use as high a percentage dark chocolate as I can get the kids to be happy with!
1 tbsp Shredded coconut To decorate

Instructions

Get 3-4 little glass dessert bowls out, ready for the caramel
For the caramel: In a blender or food processor, blend the coconut milk and dates until as smooth as you can get it. There shouldn't be any date 'bits'!
Pour this mixture into a small, good quality non stick pan and add the vanilla extract and salt and stir well. Bring to the boil and let the caramel bubble for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. The caramel will darken in color
When the caramel is ready, pour into your dessert bowls and leave to set for at least an hour, putting them in the fridge after they've cooled down
For the chocolate topping: In a microwave bowl, microwave the cream until hot, but not boiling. I do this in 45 second lots, checking it each time. If it's steaming, it ready
Break the chocolate into small pieces and add into the cream. Do not put back in the microwave!
Stir the chocolate into the cream until fully melted and smooth and shiny
Leave the cream/chocolate mix to cool for 30 minutes
When both the caramel and chocolate have cooled, add a spoonful of chocolate to the top of each caramel pot, and decorate with some shredded coconut (optional)

Salted Caramel Pudding Recipe

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