Cashew Cream

Cashew Cream has been well known to vegan bakers for years but it’s only recently gained ground in the savory cooking world. It’s the key to converting traditional french and new american dishes to vegan.

As anyone who has seen Julia Child or her good friend Jacques Pepin cook knows, it’s all about butter and cream. You cannot have enough of either. Finding the Earth Balance buttery stick was relatively easy, but a replacement for cream, not so much.

You can buy lots of cow milk substitutes: soy, almond, rice but none of them really do the job. They’re too watery, won’t reduce and don’t have enough fat to really hold anything together or have any kind of richness or weight. Enter cashew cream.

Raw cashews have no flavour of their own they’re just a great source of fat and creaminess. Once converted to cream, they’re actually more stable than dairy cream. Cashew cream is less likely to “break” in a sauce, whips up like a dream and reduces faster than their Holstein counterparts. Keep a stash in your fridge at all times and you’ll never be disappointed by a cream sauce again.

Note the cream only keeps for about 3-4 days in the fridge so I only make it a cup at a time so I’m not wasting more than I’m using.

Cashew Cream is insanely easy to make so you really have no reason not to use it in any and everything you’d like. The ingredient list is one item long so I’m gonna skip right into the method. Cool?

In a large airtight container cover 1 cup of whole, raw cashews with enough water to cover them by one inch, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. Each cup of cashews should yield 1.25 cups of cream. Multiply as your need dictate.

NOTE: Whole cashews, while more expensive, yield the best results. Cashew pieces tend to dry out and produce a grittier, less creamy cream. Shell out for the good stuff, it’s worth it.

Drain cashews and rinse under cold water. Cashews should appear to be a little plump and be slightly soft to the touch. Place the cashews in either a full-size food processor or high-powered blender, cover with enough fresh cold water to cover them again by one inch. Blend on high until very smooth, anywhere between 5 and 7 minutes. If after blending for as long a 10 minutes you still don’t have a very smooth cream, drain the mixture through a fine mesh sleeve or some cheesecloth.

And there you have it, delicious cashew cream. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.