Raw Recipe: Simple Almond Cheese
Nut cheeses are a great item to have in your raw food recipe collection. They are tasty, easily support the addition of many herbs and spices, and will impress your raw and non-raw friends a like! There are a couple of different ways to make nut cheeses.
You can make delicious nut cheeses with macadamia nuts, cashew nuts and many other nuts and seeds.
Macadamia Nut Cheese made with probiotics.
(From the Rawmazing Holiday Book)
Probiotics: Probably the easiest, but most expensive way to make the “cheese” is to use probiotics. I love how this “cheese” tastes and the texture is wonderful and it is quite fail-proof. The only drawback is the cost of the probiotics. Most recipes require at least a teaspoon, which can be more than half a bottle of capsules. On the plus side, the cheeses are wonderful, the probiotics don’t require advanced preparation.
Cashew Cheese made with Rejuvelac
(recipe here: Cheese)
Rejuvelac: Raw Cheeses made with rejuvilac also have great taste and texture but can be a little more temperamental. Plus, you need to add a couple of days to your process to make the rejuvelac. The grain needs to be sprouted first and then made into rejuvelac. It can be a bit time consuming. That said, it makes a great cheese with wonderful, tangy taste and good texture.
Simple Almond Cheese (recipe follows)
Simple Cheese: Simple cheese spreads and simple cheeses can be made with just nuts and no fermentation process. I usually prefer these cheeses for spreads, but they can also be firmed up and dehydrated to form the rind.
Different nuts not only taste different, but also will give different textures. Almonds make a clean tasting cheese that is a little grainy. Macadamias make a beautiful, creamy cheese that develops good firm texture. Cashews make a smooth, easy to flavor cheese that has a bit of a softer texture.
Today’s recipe is pretty simple. I started my “cheese” when I got up. I threw the ingredients in the food processor, spooned it into a nut-milk bad and tossed it in the refrigerator. The next morning, I took it out, patted it into a round and tossed it in the dehydrator (to form a “rind”). By the evening, it was ready to go!
I hope I have inspired you to try your hand at nut cheese making. It is fun and tasty!
Soaked almonds with skins removed. It takes a little time but is very easy. They just pop right off.
The almonds should be well blended and smooth.
The mixture in the nut-milk bag, before putting it in the refrigerator.
Simple Almond Cheese
Simple Almond Cheese
- 1 cup almonds, soaked, drained and skins removed
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- pinch Himalayan Salt
- Soak almonds overnight in water. Drain and pop off skins.
Place all ingredients in food processor. Process until smooth. This will take a bit of time, don’t rush.
Place nut mixture in nut-milk bag or colander lined with cheese cloth.
Give a light squeeze and place in refrigerator over-night to set up.
You can use the cheese at this point or if you want it more firm, place it in the dehydrator for 6+ hours (at 115 degrees) to form a rind.
Maryann wrote on March 29, 2012
This “cheese” looks heavenly! I’m soaking my almonds and I cant wait to try it! I was wondering if lime juice would work the same as the lemon?
Thanks!
Maryanna
Muse wrote on March 28, 2012
Thats a fabulous idea Can’t wait to try it. Now for a dehydrator! Well done on your site Susan. xo
Sharon Taylor wrote on March 21, 2012
I loved the simple almond cheese! I added a tablespoon of plain sheep yogurt to mixture after it came
out of fridge to give it a more cream cheese taste! Thanks for sharing!
ping wrote on February 18, 2012
is it possible to use this cheese to make pizza? how does it respond to heat?
Susan wrote on February 18, 2012
It could be used on a raw pizza. Since this is a raw food site, I do not test the recipes in the oven so I honestly have no idea how it would respond to heat. Cheers!
Lindsey wrote on February 16, 2012
Do the almonds need to soak overnight or can you blanch them to remove the skins?
Susan wrote on February 16, 2012
Since blanching requires boiling water, I prefer to soak to keep it raw. Cheers!
Laura wrote on January 28, 2012
After the cheese has been in the cheesecloth, there is a liquid in the bowl. I’m guessing it’s almond whey. Is there anything I can make with that?
Thanks
Susan wrote on January 19, 2012
The cheese above spent some time in the dehydrator. 🙂
Severine wrote on January 19, 2012
OK, thanks for the suggestion Susan. What I mean by ‘firmer’ is not spreadable but sliceable cheese (not dry), just like your pictures above. Making cheese with probiotics has proven anything but easy for me so far, but I will persist!
Severine wrote on January 19, 2012
Tried to make cashew nut cheese using probiotics (Health Aid Acidophilus) three times now and yet result looks like simple cheese without fermentation… Does taste a bit cheesy I guess but what I’m after is firmer, sliceable cheese and am yet to achieve this. Followed a recipe from Mimi Kirk’s book asking for 1/2 teaspoon probiotic powder and 24 hour culturing at room temperature, on 3rd occasion I put twice as much probiotic and cultured for 48 hours, but no difference. Where am I going wrong??
Everywhere refers to ‘probiotic’ without specifying type so I assume that any will do? Help!
Susan wrote on January 19, 2012
First of all, I can’t comment on someone else’s recipe. I did not develop it or test it. Most nut cheese is soft. If you want it to be harder, you will need to put it in the dehydrator to dry out a bit. Cheers!