Having trouble stomaching dairy as you age? Dealing with life-long allergies or sensitivities? Or just looking to experiment with plant-based milks to expand your culinary skills?

Chef Bailey Ruskus — A.K.A. Chef Bai — has devoted her career to plant-based cooking that appeals to everyone. Her book, Breaking Up with Dairy: 100 Indulgent Plant-based Recipes for Cheese (and Butter, Cream, and Milk) Lovers Everywhere is a guide to crafting gorgeous, delectable dupes to your fave foods. And one of our favorite desserts is her black sesame blackberry flan.

Why black sesame milk versus something you might already have in your fridge? “We love a milk that can cross cultures and create a beautiful umami flavor,” Ruskus writes. “Black sesame seed milk is the perfect example of how creating ‘milk’ from plants can provide limitless possibilities and make life so much more interesting than it was before.” (Plus, crafting that milk from scratch is as easy as throwing five ingredients in a blender.)

Once you’ve got that delicious milk, you can get to crafting the most unique, tasty, and picturesque flan you’ve ever eaten. “There are so many kinds of custards across so many different cultures, but what makes flan so special is the layer of wet caramel that glistens and falls over the top,” Ruskus explains.

“No egg yolks and heavy cream are needed here, as we use agar-agar to hold the custard together, paired with the black sesame seed milk and blackberries to make a truly one-of-a-kind flan.” In other words, you can have your dairy-free, oil-free, gluten-free, soy-free cake and eat it, too.

Black Sesame Milk

Makes: 32 ounces

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup (60 g) black sesame seeds
4 cups (960 ml) filtered water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 pitted Medjool dates
1⁄4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend on high speed for about 60 seconds, or until well mixed. Pour through a fine-mesh metal strainer into a bowl. You might need to work a rubber spatula on the strainer to help the liquid go through. Repeat this one more time to get a really smooth consistency. This milk pairs amazingly for a matcha latte.

Black Sesame Blackberry Flan

Serves: 2 to 4

Ingredients

Blackberry Caramel

1⁄4 cup (40 g) coconut sugar
1⁄4 cup (60 ml) water
8–10 (70 g) blackberries, plus more for garnish

Black Sesame Seed Milk Flan

1 1⁄4 cups (300 ml) Black Sesame Seed Milk
1 can coconut cream (13 1⁄2-ounce; 398 ml)
1⁄3 cup (55 g) coconut sugar
1 tablespoon (7g) tapioca starch
1 teaspoon agar-agar

Instructions

Have a 9-inch cake or springform pan, or three 3-inch-diameter flat-bottomed containers on standby here.
Make the blackberry caramel: Combine the coconut sugar, water, and blackberries in a high-powered blender and blend on high speed for 15 seconds, or until you have a puree. Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 7 to 8 minutes, or until you have a thick blackberry sauce. Set aside.
Make the flan: Combine the black sesame seed milk, coconut cream, coconut sugar, tapioca starch, and agar-agar in a high-powered blender and blend on high speed for 60 seconds. Pour the liquid into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, for 9 to 10 minutes. If it bubbles over too much, lower the heat and keep cooking and stirring. Once the mixture has become a thicker consistency but is still semi-runny and coats the back of a spoon, remove from the heat and set aside.
Pour the blackberry caramel sauce into your pan or three smaller containers, then carefully pour the hot flan mixture from the blender over the top. Let cool for 20 minutes. Cover and place in the fridge for 6 or more hours or overnight, to set.
To serve, using a butter knife, carefully cut around the edges of the pan or containers. Then, place a serving plate (or an individual serving plate if you used a small container) upside down on top of the flan. Pick up both the flan pan/container and the plate, and flip over quickly. Now, the flan will be upside down on the plate. Carefully remove the flan pan/container by lifting upward, and voilà, you have a flan with the blackberry sauce on the top, running down the sides!
Enjoy cold with extra blackberries.