I found recipes for plant based cheese on several sites and decided to start with a cauliflower and cashew cheese with animal gelatin. It came out buttery, quite smooth, with a consistency somewhere between spreadable cream and feta cheese. It’s versatile, I used it as is, plain on toast, or as a base for ham spreads, I also put it in onion and cauliflower quiche, it performed beautifully. It lasts well in the fridge for good days, it does not change color or taste. As a first attempt I declare myself satisfied. Next time I will try a version with vegetable gelatin, agar.
Ingredients:
- 450 grams of cauliflower
- 50 grams of cashews
- 2 tablespoons of tapioca starch
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
- 4 tablespoons of nutritive dry yeast
- 2 sachets of gelatin
- 250 ml of water
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Method of preparation
The cashew is soaked for a few hours before, then washed very well. It also works without cashews, but I wanted it to take a little of the taste of cauliflower. Cut the cauliflower into florets, wash and boil with a little salt. The tapioca starch is dissolved in 100 ml of cold water, then in a kettle or better a small non-stick pan put it on a low heat and mix until it turns into a sticky plasticine. Put the gelatin in 150 ml of cold water for 10 minutes, then heat it without boiling until it becomes liquid. Put all the ingredients in the blender and mix until it becomes a homogeneous paste. We adjust the taste, if necessary we add more salt, pepper or dry yeast. Turmeric can also be added, but I wanted it to remain white, as similar as possible to the original cheese. At the end, add the liquefied gelatin and mix for another minute. We put the composition in the form (it can be a tall plastic bowl or a metal pan, not ceramic) and refrigerate for a good few hours. To remove it from the mold, put it in the freezer for an hour, then dip it in hot water for 30 seconds. When we turn it upside down on a flat plate, the cheese will come off easily and will be good to eat.