My Vegan Brandy Butter is a hard sauce which, on contact with something warm, becomes a drippy, rich & boozy sauce. It is absolutely perfect when slathered over hot mince pies or Christmas pudding!
To me, brandy butter is an essential part of Christmas but since being vegan I haven't been able to eat it. Plus, even if I did want to eat it, I have never seen it here in Canada. I think it is probably another quintessentially British thing just like my mincemeat and mince pies and it just so happens that it is their perfect companion.
DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN VEGAN BUTTER?
My Vegan Brandy Butter is a spin on my hugely successful Easy Homemade Vegan Butter recipe. That recipe has been pretty popular. So much so that it has caused my website to crash a number of times just from sheer volume of people trying to look at it all at once.
I have tweaked the recipe to make a festive version which is absolutely perfect for anointing hot vegan mince pies straight from the oven, or Vegan Christmas Pudding when serving.
Quite frankly, there is nothing better than either of those slathered in brandy butter.
WHAT IS BRANDY BUTTER?
If you aren't familiar with it, Brandy Butter is basically sweetened butter mixed with brandy.
Traditionally granulated sugar is used to sweeten it and the finished butter is slightly gritty. In my recipe I use powdered sugar to make a smoother more luxurious butter.
Brandy Butter is a hard sauce. Hard until it is scooped onto something warm, then it becomes a drippy, saucy, boozy, buttery sauce which is hard to resist.
You have not lived unless you have eaten a mince pie and experienced a rivulet of brandy butter running down your chin.......
HOW TO USE VEGAN BRANDY BUTTER
Vegan Brandy butter can also be used in so many ways.
Here are a few ideas:
- On mince pies
- On Christmas Pudding
- Spread on toasted, dried fruit laden bread or panettone
- Dolloped on warm desserts like apple crumble, pie or strudels
- Slathered on waffles with some of my mincemeat for breakfast. (Slightly extravagant but it is Christmas and it would make an amazing Christmas Day breakfast!)
I can't wait for you to try it!
Recipe
Vegan Brandy Butter
Author:Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons plant-based milk (not soy milk)
- 4 tablespoons ground almonds , almond meal
- 62g | ½ cup natural powdered sugar (be sure to use organic to be sure it's vegan. You can sub this for a lightly coloured granulated sugar but the finished result might be a little grainy)
- ½ teaspoon nutritional yeast
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 120mls | ½ cup coconut oil (refined varieties are best as they have a more neutral flavour but if you don’t mind a hint of coconut then you can use unrefined or virgin)
- 3 tablespoons brandy , you can add up to 2 tablespoons more if you want a stronger flavour
- small pinch of turmeric
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend. I use the smoothie setting on my Blendtec but if you don’t have that, start on low and work up to high over the course of 30 seconds. If your blender is not a high powered one then it might take a little longer. The result should be very smooth but don't let your blender run so long that the butter gets warm.
- Pour into a small jar or other lidded container and refrigerate until set.
- Once set the butter will have the texture of very thick , stiff frosting but it will melt into a deliciously smooth, sauce.
NOTES
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NUTRITION
Steph parker says
Amazing recipe, could you use amaretto in this?
Melanie McDonald says
I mean I guess you could but it wouldn't be brandy butter anymore. It would also be very sweet. As long as you're ok with that go for it!
Gene says
Hi there! Thank you for this recipe. I can't wait to try it! I'm curious, though... why do you say not to use soy milk? This is the first recipe I've ever seen that ruled out soy milk when calling for plant-based milk. Thanks!
Melanie McDonald says
Because it will curdle in this recipe. Other milks won't.
Ellie says
Argh, I made this as a trial run for Christmas a few weeks ago and it worked perfectly. I just made it again for real and I've made 2 batches and they've both curdled! What am I doing wrong?!
A Virtual Vegan says
Sorry that happened. I've never had it curdle before. Did you maybe blend it longer than last time? If it was running too long the heat from the blender could curdle it I guess.If it worked fine for you before then there must be something different going on this time. Did you use any different ingredients or different brands to last time?
Ellie says
I'm using exactly the same ingredients as when it worked the first time. I'm hoping I've worked it out though. When I looked at it really closely I don't think it actually has curdled. I think the coconut oil just wasn't mixing in properly (maybe my blender isn't powerful enough), so it looked like milk solids when it wasn't. I put it in saucepan over a really really gentle heat and whisked and it's gone smooth. It's in the fridge now to set so fingers crossed! Thank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
Ah, glad you have hopefully managed to fix it!
Sean says
I just made this and it really is yummy!
At first I used a handheld blender and it was looking pretty gross, so I poured it into our Nutribullet and then it worked a charm. The ACV smell is completely gone once it's fully blended (was also a concern of mine mid-mix!).
Thanks so much for the recipe, and to others - I highly recommend!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm so pleased you like it Sean. Have fun slathering it on all of your Christmas treats!
Diane says
Thanks for the recipe - why the nutritional yeast?
A Virtual Vegan says
This recipe is adapted from my regular butter recipe (https://avirtualvegan.com/easy-vegan-butter/) and that uses nutritional yeast. It adds to the buttery flavour and colour.
Laura says
this looks divine. I wonder, how long does it keep for if born frozen?
Thanks, Laura
A Virtual Vegan says
It will keep for 2 to 3 months if frozen. If not frozen it will keep for as long as your milk is good for.
Amanda says
Thank you for the recipe- just delicious brandy butter.
Making the Christmas pudding tomorrow!
A Virtual Vegan says
I hope you enjoy them both! Merry Christmas!
Amanda says
Merry Christmas to you too!
Fabi says
This looks amazing. I just have a question can this be frozen?
A Virtual Vegan says
Testing as we speak! I have put a pot in the freezer and will test it in 3 - 4 days to see how it fares. I've made a note to come back and let you know.
A Virtual Vegan says
Ok, I tested it and it freezes perfectly. I'm not sure how long it would keep in the freezer though. Regular butter I believe lasts about 3 months so I wouldn't keep it there any longer than that.
Anna says
This is such a great recipe! I loved your vegan butter recipe and this one may be just what I was looking for!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Anna. I hope you enjoy it!