You would have come across the ingredient ‘cashew cream’ particularly in vegan sweet and savoury recipes. Cashew cream is the magic ingredient that substitutes dairy products in vegan recipes from soups to desserts to pasta dishes. It’s the good fat and the neutral taste which lends to cashew’s versatility in vegan cuisine. Although there are nut creams available these days none of them taste as good as the home made one. The only thing is that it requires a bit of thinking ahead as you need to soak the cashews for a few hours preferable overnight. You don’t need any special equipment but rather a normal food processor does a great job. This nut cream tastes and feels much lighter and reduces much quicker when cooked compared to the dairy counterparts.
Cashew cream is the basis of most raw desserts and is a great in filled pasta such a ravioli. You can vary the consistency of the finished product simply by the amount of water added during blending. I have tried using cashew pieces but the whole raw cashews give a much better outcome texturally and in taste. Always wash the cashew thoroughly before soaking, in fact I do that with all grains, pulses and nuts as I believe there’s a lot that gets sprayed during storage to keep the insects and rodents at bay.
* Yields 2-3 cups depending on the desired thickness of the cream
Humble Cashew to Silky Cashew Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole raw cashews rinsed very well in cold water
- Cold water preferable filtered
Instructions
- Soak rinsed cashews in enough cold water to cover them in a bowl and leave covered in refrigerate overnight.
- Strain and place them in a blender with enough fresh cold water to cover them by 1 inch
- Blend until smooth and creamy
- For thickened cream reduce the amount of water so that it slightly covers the cashews when they are placed in the blender
- It will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 6 months
Note: frozen and thawed cream may be a bit lumpy. To restore the creaminess simply blend when thawed.
Living without dairy is so easy with this delicately silky cashew cream!
