Cheese is one of the most common reasons people give for not wanting to try a vegan diet. We get it! Cheese does taste great, in fact, it’s actually addictive. This is due to casein, a protein found in dairy products that activates the opioid receptors in the brain. Once you realise your love of cheese is really just an addiction, it becomes much easier to wean yourself off the stuff and fall in love with new flavours.
Most shop-bought vegan cheese uses coconut oil for a base, which is tasty but really unhealthy. We’ve noticed amongst the vegan community that a lot of people don’t even like the taste of coconut oil cheese, as they find it too sickly. That’s why we wanted to make some delicious cashew cheeses that everyone can enjoy! One of our favourite things at Christmas before going vegan was always the cheese platters, so we decided to make our very own vegan cheese platter. We wanted to make four different flavours, and we were surprised by just how easy the whole process was.
We opted to veganise camembert, wensleydale, smoky cheddar and blue cheese. There are some amazing recipes out there for vegan “aged” cheese, which no doubt offers unrivaled flavours. But we’re lazy and greedy, so our recipe is for those of you who just want to whip up a fresh batch of cheese in the run up to Christmas, with no faff.
We’ve split the blog post into a master ingredients & master method, followed by a breakdown of ingredients & method for each individual cheese.
Master Ingredients:
- 595g Cashews
- 80g nutritional yeast
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 3 tbsp tapioca flour
- 35ml apple cider vinegar
- 4 tsp agar agar powder
- 1 ½ lemons juiced
- 30g cranberries dried and finely chopped
- Sprigs of rosemary
- 30g refined coconut oil, melted
- 25g white miso paste
- 1 teaspoon moringa
- 1 tbsp syrup
- Salt & pepper
- 3 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
Master Method:
- Soak 595g cashews for at least a few hours (we left ours overnight).
- Blend all ingredients together for the blue cheese first. Decant half the mixture into a springform tin, sprinkle some moringa. Add the rest of the cheese mixture & sprinkle more moringa in rough lines. Use the tip of the teaspoon to gently blend the powder into the cheese to make subtle ‘veins’. Chill in the fridge for a few hours.
- Preheat the oven to 180c. Blend all ingredients for the wensleydale, whilst making the agar agar mixture. Simply dissolve the agar powder in tepid water by stirring it, then bring it to the boil – it should have a syrupy texture. Add the agar & water syrup to the mixture asap and blend. Leave the pan out because you’re going to make it again for the smoky cheddar and it needs to be fresh.
- Stir in the chopped cranberries & decant it all into a springform tin. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. You can then chill it in the fridge if you’re not planning to eat it straight away.
- Give the bowl a wash, and blend all ingredients for the camembert. Cook on the hob until thickened. Decant into a springform tin, top off with sprigs of rosemary & pepper. Set to one side while you prepare the last cheese wheel.
- Blend all ingredients for the smoky cheddar, whilst making the agar agar mixture again. Add the agar syrup to the cheese mixture and blend. Decant the mixture into a springform tin. Bake in the oven with the camembert for 20 minutes. Again, chill in the fridge afterwards to keep the cheeses fresh.
Blue Cheese Ingredients:
- 130g raw cashews
- 30g coconut oil, melted
- 25ml apple cider vinegar
- 30g white miso paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp moringa
Method:
- Soak 130g cashews.
- Add everything, except the moringa, to a bowl and blend.
- Put half of the mixture into a springform tin, sprinkle moringa & then add the rest of the mixture on top. Use a knife to stir spirulina into the cheese to make the blue veins.
- Cool in the fridge for a few hours.
Wensleydale Ingredients:
- 135g cashews raw and soaked
- 25g nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp lemon squeezed
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp black pepper Freshly ground
- 1 tsp salt
- 20g dried cranberries, finely chopped
- 2 tsp agar agar powder
- 150ml water
Method:
- Soak 135g cashews.
- Preheat the oven at 180c. Blend all ingredients with only a splash water.
- Add 150ml water & two teaspoons of agar agar powder to a pan and mix well. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly until it’s a syrupy consistency. Add to the cheese mixture and blend together.
- Add the chopped cranberries and stir into the mixture.
- Decant the mixture into a springform tin & bake for 20 minutes.
- Leave to cool & pop in the fridge to keep it fresh.
Camembert Ingredients:
- 180g soaked cashews
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 15g nutritional yeast
- 10ml apple cider vinegar
- 200ml warm water
- A few sprigs of rosemary
- black pepper
Method:
- Soak 180g cashews.
- Preheat the oven to 180c. Blend all the ingredients together.
- Cook in a saucepan until slightly thickened.
- Decant into a springform tin & dot the cheese with rosemary sprigs. Season with black pepper.
- Bake at 180c for 20 minutes.
- Pop in the fridge, once cooled, to keep it fresh.
Smoky Cheddar Ingredients:
- 150g Cashews
- 40g Nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp Smoked paprika
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp syrup
- 2 tsp agar agar powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 Lemon juiced
- 350ml Water
- 2 tsp salt
Method:
- Soak 150g cashews.
- Preheat the oven to 180c. Blend all the ingredients, with only half the water, together.
- Dissolve the agar agar powder in 175ml water. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly until it’s like a syrup.
- Add the agar syrup to the cheese mixture and blend to combine.
- Decant into a springform tin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Pop in the fridge, once cooled, to keep it fresh.
I hope you enjoy making this vegan cheese platter as much as we did! They’re all cashew-based, meaning it’s so easy to make them all in one go. Serve up with some classic crackers, chutneys, jams and all your favourite nibbles to wow for Christmas, or any special occasion.
Enjoy!
Alice xoxo
