Cashew Cream is as simple as can be to make. Only two ingredients, it is purely a mix of raw cashews and water. Using easy techniques, a cashew is transformed from a crunchy nut to a smooth and somewhat fluffy cream. Once in this form, it can be used as a base for all kinds of sweet and savory recipes. Think of it as a replacement for sour cream and cream cheese in dips and dressings, like my Creamy Vegan Cilantro Lime Dressing. It can be thinned enough with water to be a replacement for milk as well. It has such a mild flavor that it doesn’t compete with other ingredients.
Give them a Soak
Start with soaking the cashews in a bowl that allows you to cover the nuts with about an inch or two of water. Use unroasted (raw) and unsalted cashews. I jump start the soaking process by using warm water. You can either use tap water that is as hot as it comes out of the faucet or pop the water in the microwave for about a minute. I loosely cover the bowl to keep anything from getting in and keep the soaking cashews at room temp overnight.
The Next Day
The day you will notice that the cashews have plumped up. They are likely about 50% larger. The color may have lightened a bit. If you notice dark purple or black specks, that is normal too. It is just little bits of the skin. Taste one and you’ll notice that it has lost it’s crunch and is rather soft. Which is perfect and exactly what you want for making Cashew Cream.
Crunchy to Creamy
Depending on the size and power of your blender or food processor, you may need to work in batches. My highest power blender is a single serve smoothie maker. It has less than 2 cups capacity, which isn’t quite big enough to hold the entire batch of plumped cashews. So the day I was making this batch of Cashew Cream, I put the soaked cashews in my food processor which has an 8 cup capacity. Unfortunately, it wasn’t able to process the cashews well enough to achieve the smooth consistency I was looking for. You can still see tiny lumps in the pic below. At this point, I transferred the mixture in batches, to my smoothie maker. I only add enough water to keep the blades moving and about a minute or two later, I had the perfect creamy consistency I wanted.
What’s Next?
Now you have a blank canvas! Add a few dates and cinnamon to the smoothie maker and blend up an awesome dip for apples. Add cocoa powder and a few dates and blend into a chocolate mousse or dip for bananas and strawberries. Thin either of these dips with coconut water or the soaking liquid from the cashews to achieve the consistency you like. Try chopping herbs, garlic and other spices for a creamy sauce or dressing for salads, pasta, rice, meat, fish and seafood. Thin with freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice, your choice of vinegar, liquid aminos or soy sauce. The possibilities are endless! Check out my Fiesta Salad with Creamy Vegan Cilantro Lime Dressing for one example.
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews - unsalted, not roasted
- 3 cups warm water
Instructions
- Place cashews in a 3 cup minimum capacity bowl. Cover cashews with warm water (warm tap water will work). Make sure that the cashews are completely covered with water by an inch or two. As they start to absorb the water, the water level will come down so don’t skimp on the coverage!
- Let soak for several hours or preferably overnight, at room temperature.
- Place the cashews and just enough water to keep the blades moving into a high speed blender (Vitamix), food processor or smoothie blender. Depending on the capacity and power of your device, you may need to work in batches. Blend until completely smooth and fluffy. It will resemble and have the consistency of thick whipped cream or airy sour cream.
- Now it is a blank canvas for using in all kinds of sweet and savory recipes!
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