This delicious recipe from Finest Kind is easy to make. What sets it apart is that it can be enjoyed by everyone, including the vegan community. The special nutty ingredients will do wonders to your taste buds and will keep you coming back for more. This vegan cream cheese is ideal for celebratory occasions and goes well with a variety of tasty dishes.
EQUIPMENT:
- Blender
- Cheese mold
- Cheese cloth
- A dish/bowl for fermenting the blended cashew paste
INGREDIENTS:
- Cashew nuts
- a teaspoon tip of Florta Danica culture
- Cheese salt
METHOD:
- We first soak the cashew nuts.
- Then we blend the nuts into a paste
- Lastly, we culture the cashew paste.
Soaking:
Soak the cashew nuts for 6-10 hours in water.
Drain soaking water, discard it or use for blending.
Blending:
Place the soaked cashews into your blender and fill up with water up to half of the soaked nuts’ volume. Turn on the blender and start blending at a low speed level, increasing as you go. If it feels as though you need additional water to help your blender break through the mass you can add some in small portions. Eventually it has to turn into a smooth paste, much like sour cream.
Culturing:
Transfer the paste into a separate dish and add a teaspoon tip of Flora Danica culture. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and place it in a warm place. In summer it takes about 7 hours in a sunny location for the paste to ferment. The same process can take a day and a half to two days to reach a state of fermentation indoors during winter.
End result:
The longer it stays in a sunny spot – the stronger the acidity of your end product. When you catch a whiff of fermented cheese throughout the house you will know it is ready. To test out your vegan cheese you can dig into it with a spoon. The end product should be porous and airy. Or you can test the acidity of the product with a pH stick before starting the fermenting process and again after 2 days. The acidity of the product should increase. Don’t leave it to ferment for more than 2 days. If you are a very strict vegan you should use this fermented mass to make the next batch of cheese in which case the lactose the Flora Danica bacteria are grown on will be so diluted that it is insignificant. Now go enjoy your guilt-free, healthy snack!