As of late, I’ve had a craving for schmearing a sesame seed cracker down with my delicious cashew cheese spread and retreating to a quiet place. To quench my yearning, I conjured up this cashew cheese with dates, shallots, and walnuts. This cheese IS absolutely incredibly delicious! It will satisfy most nonvegans who have an appreciation for creamy, smooth, velvety, chock-full with flavor cheese.
This recipe is relatively easy, I experimented with the basic ingredients for making cashew cheese:
- Cashews
- Spring Water
- Lemons
- Salt & Pepper
Because the original recipe was such a palate-pleasing success, I decided to use that as my starting point. Rather than use a herbal infusion to the likes of parsley or cilantro, I opted for a sweet-savory center using black cherries, dates, and pink vibrant caramelized shallots to check the onion-y box.
I tossed in toasted walnuts to add an element of protein to complement the dried fruit and what happened next was sheer bliss. Maple syrup with a coconut sugar reduction drizzled on top to add a hint of sweetness (wink, wink) an color.
We’re in quarantine folks, I had to take my cashew cheese spread for a walk on the sweet-savory side. 🙂
Look at that schmear…
OTHER TASTE OF YUMMY DELICIOUSNESS
HOW TO PREPARE CASHEW CHEESE WITH DATES, SHALLOTS, AND WALNUTS
- 2 cups of organic raw cashew nuts (soaked overnight)
- 1 cup of spring water
- 2 lemons juiced
- 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
- Nonstick Cooking spray
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1 cup of chopped pitted Medjool dates
- ¼ cup Maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
- 2 Tablespoons of black cherries
- 2 Tablespoons of toasted chopped walnuts
- Sesame crackers
- Cheesecloth for straining
- Cover cashews with water and soak overnight or soak for 4-6 hours. Drain off water and rinse cashews.
- Place cashews in a high-speed blender, pour in your water, and lemon juice. Blend. Season with salt and pepper as you go, tasting between pulse cycles until you've reached a whip texture consistency.
- Use a rubber spatula to remove the mixture from the blender and spoon it into a bowl.
- Line a strainer with a cheesecloth. Spoon the mixture into the cloth. Cover with cheesecloth and place a weight on top to drain excess liquid.
- Refrigerate for 24 hours to set.
- To Serve: In a saucepan, combine maple syrup and coconut sugar. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered for 5-6 minutes cool. Set aside.
- Next, in a skillet lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray, add in shallots cook until translucent for 2 minutes. Set aside.
- Transfer cheese into a bowl. Mix in dates, shallots, black cherries, and walnuts.
- Drizzle cheese with maple syrup reduction. Sprinkle with additional dates, black cherries, walnuts, and cooked shallots.
