February 7, 2013
(last updated January 28, 2021) 
All photos courtesy of Food52
One of the early challenges of adapting to vegan cooking at home is to find a way to replace full fat dairy. It is what lends the creamy texture and richness to so many popular soups (cream of corn, vichyssoise, bisques of all kinds) and to numerous desserts. If you’ve been vegan for a while, you know that coconut milk works beautifully in soups, and that almond milk can be made thicker than usual (a 3:1 liquid to almond ratio) to mimic coffee creamer. But if you’re really new to vegan cooking, you may miss some of the rich dairy products that you’re accustomed to using in your favorite recipes.
I bid you miss them no longer. Today over at Food52, I’m sharing tricks and tips for using one of my favorite and most versatile vegan cooking tricks: cashew cream. Cashew cream, which is simply a thoroughly blended mixture of cashews and water, is amazingly versatile, and can be used in any number of recipes that call for dairy. It’s easy to make, and you can vary the texture based upon the recipe you’re making. Depending on how much liquid you use, your cashew cream may resemble cream cheese or heavy cream. And unlike coconut cream, it’s neutral tasting, so you can flavor it however you’d like.
Check out today’s column for a cashew cream how-to, as well as five suggestions for using this miraculous vegan ingredient. In the column, you’ll also find a recipe for a scrumptious carrot ginger bisque, which is thickened and made delectable with cashew cream as an ingredient and a finishing touch. It doesn’t get any spicier, sweeter, or more delicious than this.
Enjoy!
xo
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Thanks for this awesome tip and recipe! Making this tonight along with my new cookware ๐
Hello, just wanted to mention, I loved this post. It was practical.
Keep on posting!
What a great recipe for the cashew cream. I will definitely start using it.
Cashew cream certainly IS the vegan cook’s secret weapon, so versatile, I love it!
That’s what I was about to say too! Love that glass milk-container. So cute ๐
OMG, I LOVE that little glass milk-container! You wouldn’t happen to have any info about it, would you?
I must buy one! LOL
i LOVE cashew cream plain and simple. i had no clue it was so versatile until i had a raw vegan soup with it as a garnish and oil drizzle. then, i was won over by a cashew cream based ‘ice cream cake.’ basically, i need huge vats of the stuff on hand at all times!
I nominated you for the very inspirational blogger award!http://mylifeeventsblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/very-inspirational-blogger-award/
I so love cashews for creaminess! Great recipe Gena! I’m still waiting for all those non-dairy milk companies to offer a cashew milk. I know it’s coming eventually!:) That bisque recipe is going down on to-do list this weekend!:)
The bisque looks amazing and my hubby’s favorite cheesecake is a raw vegan recipe using cashews.
Cheaters trick: just dilute some raw cashew butter with water and lemon juice! Easy cashew cream and you’re so right – indispensable!
Can you please tell me the ratios of these ingredients, thank you
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was scrumptious! It’s raining and a little chilly where I live right now, so this warm, flavorful, and creamy soup was so nice to slowly savor, especially since I already had some cashew cream on hand. I served it with a rainbow kale salad, a delicious mix of kale, bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, olives, and pomegranate seeds.
Cashew cream-based desserts are amazing. Better than the non-vegan versions. For serious.