Posset is pretty simple to make and the same goes for its go-to accompaniment, the shortbread. But not everyone can enjoy either given certain diets. Fortunately, vegans, in particular, could with a few adjustments.

Last time I covered this recipe, it was for a lemon-lime flavored cream with plain ol' vanilla biscuits; both of which contained dairy ingredients. Today's variation is substituting those with non-dairy ones but will still impress taste buds.

Vegans have theirs

To recap, posset is a creamy drink that's made by simmering milk/cream and sugar over the stove and flavoring it with wine, citrus, or other flavors.

Shortbread is a Scottish biscuit made much like cookies down to the basic formula, i.e. flour to butter to sugar ratio is 3:2:1, though it can be altered for a different texture.

Both recipes require adjusting but are simple to do. For the posset, the heavy cream will be replaced with coconut cream as the latter is thick enough for the job. For the shortbread, the butter is replaced with non-dairy butter. Simple.

The recipe

Posset ingredients:

  • 2 lemons or 3 limes or 1 orange, juiced and zested
  • 1 can (14 oz) coconut cream
  • 1/4 cup caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Fruit or nut to garnish (optional)

Shortbread ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup non-dairy butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • Extra sugar for sprinkling

The directions

Posset directions:

  1. Wash the citrus fruit thoroughly before use. Collect the zest in a small bowl. Cut and juice the fruit over another bowl covered with a sieve. Set the bowls aside.
  2. Combine the coconut cream and sugar in a saucepan to simmer for 5 minutes. Stir the mixture until sugar completely dissolves.
  3. Turn off the heat. Add the zest, juice, and vanilla extract to the saucepan and whisk together to combine.
  4. Divide the posset among six serving glasses evenly. Seal the glasses with cling and chill them in the refrigerator for up to 3 hours or overnight.

Shortbread directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cover a baking sheet with parchment and set aside.
  2. Whisk together the flour and salt in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Cream the non-dairy butter and sugar together in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for 3 minutes or until smooth and fluffy. Cream in the vanilla extract to combine. Cream in the flour/salt mixture until the mixture forms a crumbly dough.
  4. Seal the dough in cling and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling.
  5. Unseal the dough in the center of the parchment-covered tray and roll it out to a 1/2 cm thick rectangle. Cut out 12 rectangles (for biscuits) or circles (for cookies).
  6. Place in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from the oven to cool for 10 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle the extra sugar over the shortbread. Serve each posset with two shortbread. Optionally, fruit or nuts can be used to garnish the posset.

Serves: 6
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