I was inspired by Somers posts on Good Clean Food on her discoveries in vegan cheeze making. This is a recipe everyone should be trying! I won’t lie…it isn’t cheap to make. It is relatively easy though and doesn’t contain anything questionable. While picking up some more raw cashews I was looking at commercially made vegan cheezes and the ingredient lists were scary. Unpronounceable ingredients, heavy amounts of oil and tofu and price wise they were not bargains either. Well, and I haven’t met one I like. Over the years I have tried a bunch of them. Most are slimy and have an off-taste. Like rubber-cheeze. I haven’t bought any in a long time -last summer though I made the mistake of hacking down some at Vida Vegan Con that was on food served. Yech. So I went into this experiment with open eyes. I figured if it turned out, great. If not…no big loss. And yes, it works. And is quite tasty!
I adapted the recipe a wee bit. As long as you follow the water/pectin/nuts ratio all is good. It is a recipe I will be playing with more! I made one large block, next time I will make smaller molds so I can stash them in the freezer for later use.
Cashew Cheeze
Ingredients:
- 1 package Pomonas Universal Pectin
(use only this brand)
- 3 cups water, divided
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup Nutritional Yeast
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
Directions:
Lightly oil or spray a glass or ceramic container for molding (or a couple small ones if desired), my mold was a glass food storage rectangle, 8″ x 6″ x 3″.
Take out the small calcium packet from the pectin package, add it to a small canning jar with ½ cup of the water, shake to dissolve and set aside.
Bring the remaining water to a boil, set aside. Add the cashews, lemon juice, yeast, salt and garlic to a high-speed blender (such as a Vitamix), sprinkle the pectin on top. Pour the hot water in, seal the blender tightly, cover the top with a kitchen towel and process on high until smooth. Take off the top carefully and pour in the entire container of calcium water, put the lid back on with towel over and process quickly until mixed. Immediately use a silicone spatula to scrape into the prepared mold(s) and smooth out – it sets quickly so work fast. Be sure to fill your blender with hot water and clean right away.
Set the mold in the refrigerator for an hour uncovered. Put a plate over the mold and flip over gently, return to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before covering.
The longer it sits, the firmer it becomes. If allowed to sit overnight you can grate it.
PS: For another option see Somer’s other recipe for Pepper-Jack Cheeze!
I can’t tell you how happy this makes me!!! EVERYONE needs to know about cashew cheez! Your version looks super beautiful!
Yes, they do!
You are so right!
It rocks my vegan world!
I haven’t made this cheeze but Somer has inspired me in many other ways! 🙂
Looks awesome, and clearly you are all going to gang up on me…. okay, okay, I’ll try to make cashew cheez again, and THIS time I’ll actually read the whole recipe and do it properly. Sheesh! So much pressure! 😉
Yes 😉
I wondered why your zucchini mac recipe said “soft cheese” 😉
🙂
http://mysisterspantry.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/sneaky-pete-strikes-again/ Yum! How did I miss that recipe?
It was really good, I must confess. I’ve not enjoyed vegan mac n cheese to date, but this one really worked for me.
I love cashew cheese! You got a really pretty loaf!
A job well done! I love it that you have made it in your Vitamix because I have a Vitamix too! 🙂 I can’t wait to make it! I think you will love my vegan cheddarry spread too. Here is the link: http://sophiesfoodiefiles.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/sophies-vegan-cheddary-cheese-spread-ooh-yeah/
Hope you enjoy it too! 🙂
I will have to try yours! And I have to say…I love my Vitamix – it makes everything so smooth!
hey, just wanted to give you an update. I did some cost sniffing around because I make this so often. If I can get my cashews for less than $6 bucks a pound and IF I buy my pectin at whole foods for about $3.39 (the price at mine right now) THEN THIS CHEESE COSTS LESS THAN $3.50 A POUND TO MAKE. Which beats the pants of dairy cheese (same price, but artery clogging) or daiya which runs more than $12 bucks a pound….. 🙂
$3.50 a lb is cheap! I think I paid $3.90 a package when I bought a 6 pack from Amazon recently (I have Prime). I need to watch for cashews to go on sale in bulk. Ours are $7.50 a lb locally. Still, that isn’t bad price wise for tasty non-clogging cheese!
I’m going to see if they (Pamona’s) will do a wholesale order, They have something on their site where they say they can sell it by the pound.
Ya, I wait until cashews are on sale then buy multiple poounds and put them in the freezer. Keeps my costs down 🙂
Let me know if they do, they are such nice folks 🙂 I swear my freezer is half nuts…hah!!
and flax, and chia, then the frozen fruits for smoothies. Mine is full to the brim!