I want to make cheese for all of my friends. This is part two in my attempt to accommodate my friends who can’t eat dairy products.
Vegan cheddar begins the same way as vegan yogurt: lots of cashews!
Oh, and a few extra ingredients:
I blended everything together and heated the resulting “cashew goo” on my stove. This mixture was then poured into my cheese press to give it shape. Finally, the cheese was air-dried for a few days.
Cashew goo
Vegan cheddar “curds” in the cheese press
Vegan cheese that has been air dried for about three days.
I was happy with the turnout, but I would do a few things differently the next time I make this:
- I doubled the recipe from the book, and I don’t think all the cashews were ground up in the second round of blending. Next time: I won’t double the recipe.
- The yogurt I used was thinner than I was expecting (see Part 1). Next time: I’ll either buy soy yogurt from the store or spend more time focusing on the cashew yogurt so it thickens a bit more.
- I noticed that I cooked some of the cheese to the bottom of my pot while heating. Next time: I’ll use a double boiler setup to distribute heat more evenly.
- I only “pressed” the cheese on one side, leading to one smooth side and one rough side. Next time: I want to press for a few minutes on both sides.
- The book told me to rub salt on the cheese before air drying, but I think this led to the cracks you see on the sides. Next time: I want to apply salt with a brine solution instead (I would normally do this with a dairy cheese)
