Cashew Cheese with Garlic and Herbs

This post is dedicated to a dear friend of mine, who happens to dislike cheese beyond measure!

She had dinner at my place last Sunday and looked at me incredulously when I offered her a slice of sourdough with garlic-herb “cheese”. Of course, I would never serve her real cheese – just this mock  cheese made with cashew nuts.

But the texture and taste of this nut cheese are very close to those of the real stuff – it takes a true cheese hater to tell the difference ;)

For a perfect result, soak the cashews overnight, make the “cheese” mixture in the morning, and serve your cheese in the evening. It can be served immediately as well, but the flavours and the texture are optimal if you can wait a couple of hours.

This is what you need:

• 200g cashews, soaked overnight


• 70ml water


• 1 tsp salt


• pepper to taste


• 1 small garlic clove


• a generous handful of 4 herbs of your liking (parsley, basil, chives, thyme, arugula…)

Drain the cashews and place them with the cold water, salt, pepper, and garlic clove in a bowl. Pulse with a hand mixer (or in your food processor) until creamy. Add some more water if needed. The mixture should be firm enough so that you can easily form it into small balls with your hands. If the mixture is too liquid, don’t worry: when you wait a couple of hours, it will be firmer; and if not, you can add some almond meal.

Place the cheese-to-be in the fridge for a couple of hours. Just before serving, roll the mixture into small balls (about 1 heaped teaspoon per ball), which you coat generously with chopped herbs. Serve with good bread or crackers!

P.S. Inspiration for this recipe came from Nicola Graimes’ awesome vegetarian cookbook, “The New Vegetarian Kitchen”. A must-have in every self-respecting kitchen!

Crunchy Caramel Hearts with Cashews

Caramel and salt is a match made in heaven. These crunchy cookies topped with salty cashew caramel are so far the favourites of two test persons- and I don't blame them! The recipe comes from a little book called Weihnachtsplätzchen, and the only thing I changed was the amount of caramel - I made a bit more for the cook to be able to savour some of it as well ;)

For about 35 hearts you need

Caramel:

• 90g sugar


• 55g cashews


• salt to taste

Cookies:

• 180g flour


• a pinch of salt


• 2 Tbsp sugar


• 16g vanilla sugar


• 120g butter or margarine


• 50ml (vegan) cream


• a bit of milk for brushing

First, make the caramel: in a pan, heat the sugar until it melts and gets light brown - but be careful! Caramel burns very easily. Then add the cashews, turn a couple of times with a spatula to make sure all cashews are coated with caramel, and take away from heat. Pour the caramel onto a surface covered with parchment paper and let cool.

In the meantime, prepare the dough: in a baking bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar, and vanilla sugar. Add butter (cut in small cubes) and work with your fingertips until fine and crumbly. Then add cream and form the dough into a ball. Place the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes or so.

Now, it’s time to cut the caramel. I used a sharp knife to cut it into small pieces, but you could also use your food processor. Add salt to your taste and stir well.

Take your dough out of the fridge, roll it out to about 3mm thin, and take out heart formed cookies with a cookie cutter. Place them on an oven pan covered with a parchment paper. Brush each cookie with a bit of milk and sprinkle caramel on top.

Bake in a preheated oven (190 C) for about 12 minutes, or when the cookies are golden brown. Let cool on a rack - and enjoy!