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Vegan Philadelphia cream cheese

Here's an easy and relatively quick (a few minutes to process plus a day or two of culturing time) vegan cheese for anyone who wants to dip a toe into the art of vegan cheese-making.

    by Vance Lehmkuhl, External
    Published 

Here's an easy and relatively quick (a few minutes to process plus a day or two of culturing time) vegan cheese for anyone who wants to dip a toe into the art of vegan cheese-making.

Philadelphia-style Cream Cheese
From Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner (Book Publishing Company).  

Yield: about 1 pound (about 2 cups)

  1. 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 8 hours and drained

  2. 1/2 cup water

  3. 2 tablespoons plain, unsweetened nondairy yogurt

  4. pinch of salt

  1. Process the ingredients: Put the cashews, water, nondairy yogurt, and salt in a blender.  Process until smooth and creamy, occasionally stopping to scrape down the blender jar and move the mixture toward the blades.

  2. Culture the cheese: Transfer to a clean glass bowl or container, cover, and let rest at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours, depending on how sharp a flavor you want and the ambient temperature (culturing will proceed more quickly at warmer temperatures).  For use in cheesecakes that will be sweetened, allowing it to culture for a full 48 hours will create a tanginess that will nicely complement the sweetener.  Cover and refrigerate.  The cheese will get firmer as it chills.

Storage Notes: Stored in a covered container, Cashew Cream Cheese will keep for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 4 months in the freezer.