An easy cashew cream for adding a luscious touch to vegan dishes. All you need’s a high speed blender, raw cashews, fresh lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Lemon cashew cream enhances the flavor of anything from curries, pizza, and soups, to fresh berries. This recipe can be adapted to make vegan sour cream or a sweet dessert topping.

THE ULTIMATE DAIRY SUBSTITUTE

Healthy vegan foodies love adding cashew cream to almost everything. Why? In part for the same reason that omnivores like to add butter and various dairy creams to many different foods. Rich, creamy, fatty substances can enhance flavor and make us feel satisfied. We’re hardwired to enjoy this type of food. For those of us who are whole food plant-based (WFPB) adherent, actively avoiding oil, vegan butter and coconut cream in recipes, cashew cream allows us to add some of that silky richness while staying within the (WFPB) paradigm. Cashew cream is much closer to being a whole food than store-bought plant based alternatives. The entire cashew nut is used so all of the whole food nutrients are retained, including protein and fiber.

EASY CREAMY VERSATILITY

With the help of a high speed blender, raw cashews and water can turn into all sorts of dairy substitutes. Adding a little lemon juice rounds out the flavor of the cashews in a way that’s reminiscent of the lactic acid found in cow’s milk. And while you could use plant based lactic acid instead of lemon juice, lemons are fresh, natural, and readily available to home cooks. Adjust the ratio of water to cashews to make cashew cream as thick or as thin as you want. By using more water, you can achieve a texture similar to heavy cream, half-and-half, or coconut milk/cream. By using a minimal amount of water, you can create a cashew cream with the consistency of room temperature dairy butter. For a sour cream-like cashew cream, use more lemon juice and maybe add a small amount of vinegar. For a slightly sweet whole food plant-based cashew cream, you can add dates or other natural sweeteners.

SMALL BATCH RECIPE

This recipe is for a small batch of cashew cream. The exact amount it yields will depend on how much water is added to achieve the desired consistency. Roughly, it’s going to be between 1 and 2 cups. I tend to use cashew cream sparingly. I often add about a tablespoon of medium-thick lemon cashew cream to a bowl of soup. Or I may use an entire batch as a delicious substitute for coconut milk in a creamy curry. When stored in an airtight refrigerated container, lemon cashew cream stays fresh for at least three days and up to a week. That’s not a long time, so for me small batches make sense. As always, feel free to scale this recipe as needed.

BLENDER FOR BLITZING

For a reliably smooth silky cashew cream that comes together quickly, a high speed blender is strongly recommended. High speed blenders are blenders with a minimum of 1,000 watts (20,000+ RPM). Although cashew cream can be made with a less powerful blender, it’s probably not going to be as smooth even with cashews that have had an adequate soak.

PRE-SOAKING CASHEWS

For best results, cashews need to be soaked. Adequate soaking time makes for creamier cashew creams. With a powerful high speed blender you can technically get away with little to no soaking by adding a bit more liquid. But the result will not be quite as good, and you’ll need to process for a longer time.

The ideal soaking time for raw cashews is at least two hours when starting with cold water. But if you start by pouring boiling water over the cashews, you can get away with a shorter soaking time of about 20 minutes, less if soaking cashew pieces. Using cashew pieces instead of whole cashews not only reduces the necessary soaking time, they’re also less expensive.

Any amount of soaking is better than no soaking. When I know I’ll need soaked cashews the following day, I prefer an overnight soak.

LEMONY CASHEW SOUR CREAM

If you want your cashew cream to work as a sour cream substitute you can either add a bit more lemon juice, a little bit of vinegar, or both.

Lemon Only Method: Use 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (instead of the maximum of 1-1/2 suggested in the recipe. Process until smooth and creamy, then taste it to see if you want a bit more tartness. If you do, add one more teaspoon of lemon juice, process again with a couple of pulses and taste it again. Cashew cream can’t be over-processed, so add tiny bits of lemon juice at a time, tasting after each addition until you achieve the desired tartness.

Adding Vinegar: Start with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (the lower amount suggested in the recipe) and add 1/2 teaspoon of a neutral light colored vinegar such as apple cider vinegar, white wine vinegar or plain white vinegar. Taste the cream to see if you want a bit more tartness. If you do, add 1/4 teaspoon more of vinegar, process again with a couple of pulses and taste it again. If it’s still not tart enough add another teaspoon of lemon juice and process again with a couple of pulses.

Adding Plat-Based Lactic Acid Powder: Plant-sourced lactic acid powder is a specialty ingredient that is not available at regular grocery store, but adding just a pinch does wonders when you want to create a flavor that’s as similar to dairy sour cream. You can read an entire post about the uses of this ingredient and including tips on how to add it to recipes here.

SOME LIKE IT SWEET

Sweet lemony cashew cream can be a delightful dessert topping or spread. Turning this recipe into a delicately sweet cream only requires adding one more ingredient and there’s several ways to do this. Here are some suggestions.

Add Whole Dates: To make your cream slightly sweet in the most deliciously whole food plant-based way possible, add 1 Medjool date or 2 Deglet Noor dates before processing. Be sure the dates are pitted and stems have been removed. Don’t rely on package labels saying that dates are pitted. Instead, slice date/s crosswise before adding them in just to make sure there are no hidden pits.

Add Maple or Agave Syrup: An easy peasy way to sweeten lemony cashew cream is to add 1 tablespoon of maple or agave syrup before processing.

Add Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate: In keeping with the slightly citrusy theme of the core recipe, lemon cashew cream can also be sweetened by adding 1 tablespoon + 1 to 2 teaspoons of frozen orange juice concentrate before processing. To make things even more sweet and orangey, you can also use orange juice as a substitute for water in the recipe.

Add Vanilla Extract: Our brains associate the taste of vanilla with sweetness. By adding 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract you can make this cream more dessert-like without using any additional sweetener. Vanilla extract can also be used in addition to any of the other sweetening ingredients mentioned above.

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