I’m sorry, I really am going to stop gushing about the What Fat Vegans Eat Facebook page soon but here’s another recipe I was inspired to make after seeing everyone’s home-made vegan cheese on there. Some looked a bit complicated for a noob like me, so I scouted around for some other recipes until I found a simple one with easy-to-source ingredients.
Despite the recipe I found being simple, it does take three days to make, simply because there’s a lot of sitting about (the ingredients, not you, although you are of course perfectly welcome to put your feet up and watch repeats of Eastenders while you wait for it). I also ended up blending the cashews with my hand blender because my cheapy blender wasn’t up to the job and didn’t get the nuts smooth enough.
From what I’ve read on other blogs, you can skip the last ‘place in the fridge overnight bit’ if you want to, but from what I can gather, if you do leave it to drain for longer, the cheese will be firmer. Saying that though, no more liquid drained out after leaving it to sit overnight.
I’m not going to lie – this isn’t going to make you think you’re eating vintage mature Cheddar; it’s not even going to make you think you’re eating Philadelphia (other cream cheeses are available) but it’s nice for what it is. It’s smooth and creamy with a bit of a tang. The supermarket had run out of chives so I had to leave those out but next time I’ll definitely make it herbier and maybe add some chilli flakes.
I spread it thickly on rice cakes and ground black pepper over it.
This recipe was taken from In Vegetables We Trust.
Vegan Cashew Cream Cheese
1 1/2 cups raw cashews
4 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3 tbsp water, plus water to soak the cashews
3 spring onions, sliced
2 tbsp chopped chives
3 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
A pinch of sea salt
A pinch of ground black peppepr
- Soak the cashews in the fridge overnight, or up to 24 hours.
- Drain and rinse the cashews and add to a blender/food processor with the cider vinegar, lemon juice and water.
- Blend until smooth as possible, adding up to another 2 tbsp of water if necessary.
- Transfer the cashew puree to a mixing bowl and fold in the remaining ingredients.
- Line a sieve with cheese cloth and place the sieve over a bowl.
- Add the cashew mixture, smooth out the top and carefully fold over the sides of the cheese cloth.
- Leave on the side for about 2 hours and discard the liquid that has drained out into the bowl.
- Place in the fridge overnight to allow even more water to drain and the cream cheese to firm up.
- After allowing it to sit overnight, carefully unfold the cheese cloth and turn the cashew cream cheese out onto a plate.