Cashew cream

You are not going to believe how amazing this cream is. From the photo above you can see how creamy and decadent looking it is. The only ingredient in basic cashew cream is……cashews! Whenever you eat a desert or indeed any food that tastes creamy and decadent, its probably got cream or butter or both in it. Nothing wrong with that if its a rare treat and made with good quality, hopefully organic, dairy products. This is a very good substitute. In some ways its even better because it lends itself to all sorts of pairings, from all sorts of soups to chocolate, garlic, and salady bits.

I’ve told you before that Mark likes something “saucy” with his food. So, if we’re having spinach, walnut and tofu loaf for example, this is a brilliant thing to dollop on top. I’ve used it to thicken Pumpkin soup and more recently Curried sweet potato soup, and it totally starred as the “cheesy” middle in my raw mango cheesecake. I am yet to plumb the depths of the capabilities of this treasure.

I love cashews generally as they are a nostalgic childhood thing as we always had a cashew tree growing in the yard. I did a bit of a blurb in my Rosemary and Cusho nuts . The best thing about this “recipe” is that it truly is easy peasy. All you have to do is soak your raw, unsalted, cashew nuts in plenty of water overnight in the fridge.

Next morning (or whenever you’re ready) drain off the water but keep some handy on the side in case you need to make your cashew cream less thick.

Blitz in the food processor until smooth. Add water (or not) to achieve your desired thickness). Normally I would not recommend a blender in my recipes, but it might just work for this, particularly if it is a hand held one, the wand sort. Smoothness is easily achieved because of the soaking. I shared my cream between two plastic containers. One went in the fridge the other the freezer. Its so well behaved that you can carve out a frozen chunk for thickening sauces or soups.