Cashew Cream(Regular and Thick)

Submitted by Sharon123

"Cashew cream stands in for dairy in a variety of ways. In the raw food world, it is used for lots of desserts. When you cook with it, it can be so much more-from cheese filling in ravioli to heavy cream in soups. It can be stored 2-3 days in the fridge and can be frozen for up to 6 months(although when defrosted it can be a little lumpy, so pulse in blender a few times to smooth it out before using it). The trick is to use raw cashews. They have no flavor of their own, they are just a vessel for fat and creaminess. Because it has a nice fat content, cashew cream reduces in a pan even faster than heavy cream. Cashews need to soak overnight, so don't skip this step. This is from The Conscious Cook by Tal Ronnen. Chef Tal was a former meat eater that now applies traditional French culinary techniques to meatless cuisine. He shows that avoiding meat and dairy does not mean sacrificing taste or satisfaction. Enjoy!"

 

• Ready In: 10mins
• Ingredients: 2
• Yields: 2 1/2 cups

ingredients

• 2 cups whole raw cashews (not pieces, because they are dry-you may sub 1/4 cup almonds)
• cold water

directions

1. Put the cashews in a bowl and add cold water to cover them. cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.
2. Drain the cashews and rinse under cold water. Place in a blender with enough cold water to cover them by one inch. Blend on high for a couple minutes until really smooth. Strain the cashew cream through a fine mesh sieve(unless you have a high speed blender such as a Vita-Mix).
3. To make thick cashew cream, reduce the amount of water in the blender, so that the water just covers the cashews.
4. Makes about 2 1/4 cups thick cream or 3 1/2 cups regular cream.

Reviews

[Wish I Could Cook]

What a wonderful sub for cream! I was in a bit of a rush so I used boiling water to soak them and then waited a couple of hours. Not sure how it compares to the overnight soak, but I can say it was a perfect substitute and so easy to do.

 

[ChefWantABe]

This sauce is amazing!!! I love it as a substitute for any kind of cream or 1/2 &1/2 called in a recipe.A lot better for you then a animal based cream....lower saturated fats I do believe.Leaves no real flavor of its own.I can make it thick or thin as I have a vitamix that pulverizes everything.I never have to strain it once its blended.I have also made it with my Bullet brand blender system and it was quite acceptable.I used this as a base for cajun alfredo sauce...amazing! Also,used it in tetrazzini....amazing as well.Added it to a "cream" based corn chowder and the soup took on a sweeter corn taste.Possible because cashews have a bit of a sweet note.This recipe makes a bit much but I am freezing in an icecube tray to see if it does well.You know.throw a cube into a dish when needed.The time it takes to soak the cashews makes it so that you cant whip it up last minute.BTW...make sure it sits overnight completely!! Its very important or you might end up with little nut bits that wont blend up really well.I am thinking of trying it in a cup of coffee instead of cream....just to see how it does.I only wish raw cashews weren't so spendy!