Cashew Cream
I’m a sauce person. A bowl missing a sauce or a salad missing a dressing just doesn’t quite cut it for me. And it’s the creamy sauces I really love.
When I decided to cut out dairy, I knew it would be tough for me mainly because of those lovely, velvety, satisfying sauces. Crema on my tacos, cheese sauce on my broccoli, creamy cilantro sauce on my bowl…how would I make them now?
It turned out that cashew cream was the answer. With a base of plain, raw cashews and water blended till smooth, I could make just about any savory sauce, dressing or dip I could imagine. I learned I could even make an amazing sweet vanilla cream to pour over berries. I owe cashew cream all the credit for ditching dairy.
Yes, cashews are expensive but if you can find room in your budget, they can really help make the change to dairy-free eating much more enjoyable. There are also ways to make cream-based sauces with other, cheaper nuts and even silken tofu (more on that later).
If you have a high-speed blender and some cashews, you can easily make cashew cream. If you have a regular blender, you’ll have to soak your cashews in water overnight.
How to make Cashew Cream and its variations:
Basic Cashew Cream
Blend 1/2 cup raw (soaked if necessary) cashews and 1 cup water until very smooth, scraping the sides of the blender down, if necessary. Now is when I check the thickness. If I’m going for a pourable sauce, it’s usually about right. If I’m going for a sour cream or thicker sauce, I’ll add more cashews by the tablespoon and blend again until smooth and the thickness I’m looking for.
Chipotle Crema
To the base cream, add 1/2 to 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce and a tbsp of the sauce, juice of 1/2 a lime and a large pinch of salt. Blend again until smooth and taste. Adjust for tang (lime juice), saltiness and heat/smokiness (pepper/adobo sauce).
Cilantro Crema
To the base cream, add the juice of 1/2 a lime, a large pinch of salt and 1/4 packed cup cilantro and blend until smooth. Taste and adjust for tang, saltiness and amount of cilantro.
Vanilla Cream
To the base cream, add 1 tbsp maple syrup, a teaspoon or two of lemon juice and 2 tsp vanilla extract. Blend and taste/adjust.
Once you have a few of these under your belt, you can really get creative with them. They can all (except the vanilla one!) make great salad dressings, dips and sauces, depending on how thick you make them.
The vanilla one is great as a thick dip for fruit and cookies and as a pourable sauce for berries.
Have fun and let me know how you use cashew cream-based sauces in your dishes!