Is homemade cashew or almond cheese actually nice?

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

I'm trying to increase the amount of vegan food being eaten in our house with a minimum of processed crap, but don't want to spend a fortune experimenting with ideas that are hideous and end up in the bin.

I've got a few recipes for cashew/almond based cheeses but wanted to see what others thought of their efforts before I get the cashews into soak!

[WooYa]

This sounds great! I can't help but I'm looking forward to someone doing so! I'm trying to be more plant-based and DS is allergic to dairy so fingers crossed

[Thinkle]

Hey, I’m thinking the same and LOVE cheese so this will be tough. However I did make The vegan Parmesan from this site a few weeks ago and i think it’s awesome minimalistbaker.com
(The pizza with the Parmesan on top is also great)

[JollyAndBright]

I make cashew cheese weekly.

My favourite at the moment is an imitation ‘baked Camembert’. (We’ve eaten so much of it over Christmas, it’s sooo good.)

The essential ingredient for nut cheese is tapioca starch to get the stringyness and stretch in the cheese.

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

Thanks! I signed up to Minimalist Baker a few days ago as I liked the look of some of their vegan recipes so I'll check out the parmesan.

I have tons of cashews already so I think I'll try a couple of different recipes to see how they come out as some look like a creamy cheese but others look a bit more solid and gratable. @JollyAndBright do you have a specific recipe you use?

[JollyAndBright]

Yes this one by Bosh

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

Thank you . That sounds delicious, I will give that a go.

[Thinkle]

Me too, thanks @JollyAndBright

[GertiMJN]

Ooh that looks great, Jolly thanks. And thanks for the thread Porridge

[VaguelySensible]

I went through a phase of making vegan cheeze a few years ago. Not because I'm vegan (I'm not!) but to satisfy my curiosity when I came across an interesting cookbook about vegan cheeze.

The recipes were mostly easy and the results mostly tasty, but TBH I didn't find any of them really substitutes for actual cheese. They were more like umami patés and terrines. The exception being the white cheeze sauce, which was very good indeed, and absolutely a good substitute for, say, Bechamel.

[GertiMJN]

Do you have a link to the recipe (or book) for the white cheeze sauce Vaguely ?

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

I've adapted a recipe for a normal cheese sauce that seems to work really well - I used it on Christmas Day for a cauli/broc bake and it all got eaten :

2 tbsp Pure in a non-stick pan and heat on medium until melted;
Add 2 tbsp plain flour and stir for a couple of minutes;
Add whatever milk substitute until the sauce is the consistency you need, approx 1 mug's worth. I use oat milk but tend to do 50:50 milk to leftover steamed-veg water otherwise it can be a bit sweet.
Add at least 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast (more than you think you need!) plus plenty of pepper.
Gets thicker as it cools so just add a bit more liquid if not using it straight away.

[PorridgeAgainAbney]

Forgot to say, it's more of a standard savoury sauce than being particularly cheesy, but the smell of processed vegan cheeses being heated makes me want to heave so I settle for the basic flavour and add herbs if using for fish, pies or pasta.

[VaguelySensible]

I can't remember which one it was, so I've included several. I think it was the Mornay.

[VaguelySensible]

This is the book.
Also included my favourite hard cheeze recipe.

[JollyAndBright]

I definitely recommend it, it’s incredible with some crusty bread and some homemade caramelised red onion marmalade. 🤤

The tapioca starch has essential in my opinion and it’s in most of the good cheese recipes I’ve tired, I buy mine on amazon here it’s a decent sized bag and lasts for ages so it’s a good investment, I’ve struggled to find it locally even in good Asian supermarkets.

[GertiMJN]

Oh thank you all!

[Alez]

I think it's a matter of taste - I hate all vegan cheeses except the fermented stuff (which is v. expensive to buy!). Miyoko Schinner's book has fermented nut cheese recipes.