Recipe · Sauce · 5 min

Cashew cream

One base, two directions: salt it for pasta sauces and soups, sweeten it for desserts and coffee. Thickness is just a matter of how much water you add. Like all blended cashew recipes, piece grades do the job for less.

Ingredients

Makes ~2 cups

  • 1.5 cups (210 g) W450 or LWP cashew pieces
  • 3/4 to 1.5 cups water (less = thicker)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Savory: 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 clove garlic
  • Sweet: 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1/2 tsp vanilla

Method

  1. 1 Soak. Soak cashews in hot water 15 minutes (or 4 hours cold). Drain.
  2. 2 Blend thick. Blend with 3/4 cup water for a heavy cream; add water gradually to reach your target thickness.
  3. 3 Flavor. Add salt + lemon/garlic for savory (pasta, soups) or maple/vanilla for sweet (desserts, coffee).
  4. 4 Store. Keeps 5 days refrigerated; thickens when cold. Loosen with a splash of water.

Thickness by ratio

  • 1 : 0.5 — thick, spoonable (sour-cream substitute, dolloping)
  • 1 : 1 — heavy cream (pasta, curries, gratins)
  • 1 : 1.5 — pouring cream (coffee, desserts, drizzling)

Which cashews?

Blended smooth, so W450 or LWP pieces are ideal and cheaper than wholes. Buying for a food business? Request bulk pricing.