Hi all! I recently discovered a lot of recipes for raw desserts and have been quite intrigued by the many varieties out there. A lot of the recipes actually look a lot more appealing than the processed and evidently unhealthier stuff that most people make.  I am by no means vegan, but I don’t eat a lot of red meat and try to embrace a vegetarian diet a few days of the week.  I have been looking at a lot of recipes on Pinterest that are raw and vegan and majority of the ones I came across actually sound incredible.  There are so many creative ways to use raw ingredients to develop a tasty and wholesome dessert that embodies purity and flavour.

During my raw dessert research, I was super excited to receive an email from Hannah over at BitterSweet telling me that I’ve won the Raw Dessert cookbook from a contest she recently hosted.  I thought to myself what perfect timing, I’m going to become a raw dessert freak now!  I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes from the book and all of the other ones I have pinned away.  Since I have such a sweet tooth, the most perfect guilt-free way to satisfy it is by making some of the raw treats that I know are full of wholesome foods and natural flavour. I won’t forever be a raw dessert girl because I really do enjoy a slab of frosted chocolate cake from time to time, but if I can get used to making most desserts this way than that’s a step in the right direction and a huge success for me. Cashew Cream was the first raw vegan dairy-substitute I came across and I immediately was enticed by it.  The next morning after discovering the recipe, I picked up a bag of raw cashews from the bulk barn and soaked them over night.  In the morning I followed the recipe I found with a minor modification and was amazed at how easily this cream came together.  The cashews had softened so much that my cheapo blender whipped up this creamy mixture in no time; I was impressed.  I took a spoonful of this and dug right in. Such a soft and creamy texture had developed and it was similar to a whipped cream but less thick. I can’t even really say what cashew cream tastes like because the flavour is very mild. I for one have never ate a raw cashew until this recipe was found and they actually taste a lot different than a roasted cashew.  They are much creamier and mild in flavour and so that’s basically what this cashew cream tastes like. The vanilla and coconut almond milk gave it a hint of flavour too.
I started to eat this right away with a bowl of strawberries and the combo was perfect, I literally didn’t give a crap about real whipped cream at this point, the cashew cream was SO satisfying!  I was so happy that I found such an amazing recipe that I wanted to add it to another raw recipe.  My sister and I thought about making some raw tarts and came up with an easy crust within 10 minutes.  We refrigerated them for a few hours and then dug in.  Seriously amazing! My whole family loved them including my sister’s boyfriend who is a ‘I eat junk food’ kind of guy, he was really surprised at how good these tasted.

If you want to use this as a dairy substitute in pasta sauces and other dishes, just omit the vanilla, almond milk, agave and use filtered water instead. I will post my raw fruit tart recipe shortly 🙂

Raw Vegan Cashew Cream
Ingredients: 1 cup organic raw cashews (soaked overnight in a bowl of water) 1/4-1/2 cup almond milk (unsweetened, vanilla, coconut…up to you) depending on desired thickness 1/2 tsp natural vanilla extract, or a little more to taste a pinch of Celtic sea salt Throw everything into the blender and puree until thick and creamy. It is a good idea to start with ¼ cup of water, and then gradually thin it out in order to achieve the desired thickness. recipe adapted from healthyblenderrecipes Share on Facebook Tweet Follow us Share Share Share Share Share