Cashew Cream

While on the hunt for more recipes to test out in my Cuisinart food processor I came across cashew cream and cashew milk a number of times. It's supposed to be a better dairy substitute than soy milk because the fat from the cashews allows it to act more like dairy when making sauces or baking.

I have no issues with delicious delicious dairy but I like to mix things up with soy milk or rice milk sometimes so I wanted to give cashew cream a try. Variety is always a good thing in my opinion.

 

Plus the whole process is ridiculously simple so I didn't really have much to lose.

The first step is to soak un-salted un-roasted (raw) cashews overnight in water in the fridge. In the morning they get drained, put into the food processor fitted with the chopping blade, and then water is added until it is almost an inch over the nuts.

 

Then you just press "on" and let the food processor puree the cashews into a cream. The Cuisinart did an awesome job of liquifying the nuts and the cream was ready in a matter of minutes.

If you want to get a super smooth texture you can strain the cream afterwards through a cheese cloth to remove any sediment. I strained half my mixture that I was going to use in baking and sauces, and left the other half (which was for smoothies) unstrained.

 

You can use the cashew cream to replace (or go along with) dairy in most recipes. The first one I tried out was a creamy tomato and basil pasta sauce that I saw on Oh She Glows.

 

I loaded my food processor bowl up with the ingredients..

 

..pureed them until smooth, and then simmered the sauce in a pan while the pasta cooked.I love that I can just put the dirty food processor bowls in the dishwasher, I already dirty so many dishes that need to be hand washed when I cook that one less thing in the sink makes me a happy girl.

 

When the pasta is done it gets tossed with the sauce and voila! It was extremely tasty. You don't need to use this exact tomato basil recipe either, it will work with any tomato sauce that you'd be adding cream to.

The original recipe is vegan but I topped mine off with some Parmesan cheese shavings. I read vegan blogs and use their recipes quite often but they often get de-veganized to suit what I have in my fridge or to my personal tastes (butter instead of margarine). Trying a milk substitute doesn't mean that you have to cut out all other dairy or that you need to label your dinner as vegan, non-vegan, etc. It's just a tasty meal that uses cashew cream.

If you want to see more delicious recipes that use cashew cream (and some beautiful photos that go along with them) then I suggest checking out Munchin with Munchkin's blog. She has (and loves) the same Cuisinart Elite Collection 12-Cup (3 L) Food Processor that I do and has a great collection of  recipes.

 

Cuisinart has given my readers the chance to win this fantastic food processor so that they can get busy making nut milks and nut butters (chocolate peanut butter is next on my to-make list!) by sponsoring a Mother's Day Giveaway with me. You can enter to win this Cuisinart Elite Collection 12-Cup (3 L) Food Processor  by entering on this giveaway post.<-- (click that link to enter.)

 

Comments

[Erin]

I keep seeing all these awesome post about cashews and cashew cream- I think it's about time I try it! Love how easy it is!

[Shanita Fadden]

I keep seeing all these awesome post about cashews

[Paula]

I've never heard of cashew cream but as a lover of cashews I'm sure I'd love it. That pasta sauce sounds wonderful.

[Ping Lee]

MUST. GET. FOOD. PROCESSOR.

It just makes it so much easier!

[Valérie]

Wow I just totally agree with you about the unnecessary labelling of meals. I mean, why should we by vegetarian or not when we can just be somewhere between a carnivorous and a strict vegan! Less meat is certainly a good thing, but variety in food (and local if possible) is so much more meaningful to me!

[noobcook]

I have never eaten cashew nut and it looks really yummy!

[Rigel_p]

What a huge help! I'm going to try this after I move in to my new apt. It's so hard to find a yummy substitute for cream, but this looks promising, and that pasta looks amazing :)

[Melissa@EyesBigger]

I'm lactose intolerant so I'm always on the lookout for milk substitutes (although I do find I can have milk that's been steamed or cooked well). But for some reason I always think of cashews as being terribly expensive to justify the amount you yield. So I've never tried it. How did you find it cost wise?

[erin @ yummy supper]

Stephanie, using nuts in the kitchen is such a great way to get deep rich flavor and cashew cream is SO delish! I have to tell you, I'm so jealous of your processor. A beauty.
Have a great week:)
E

[cabin + cub]

i will need to try this. i have only tried almond milk as a substitute. thanks for sharing! ;)

[Jessica @ bake me away!]

I keep meaning to make cashew cream! So easy, there really is no excuse.

[victor cruz jerseys]

I'm looking for this answer of this problem.Thanks for help me.

[Lisa @ The Gonzo Gourmet]

My Cuisinart is so underutilized - I love this idea. That tomato pesto looks amazing - maybe over spaghetti squash or zucchini ribbons, too?

[Maggie Muggins]

Mmmm, I love cashew cream! I like it way better then soy cream. I find it can be a bit pricy so I sometimes blend it with some white beans or cooked cauliflower.

[story]

Hey! I finally made this and it was great! We loved the cashew mash in smoothies, and the strained cream in soup. I'll have an upcoming recipe in the next month, I hope! Thanks for the easy instructions.

[business]

Hi…………………….??????
This is a really good post… Must admit that you are amongst the best bloggers I have read… Thanks………..?

[Mail Forwarding]

i have only tried almond milk as a substitute. thanks for sharing! ;)