After going on and on about milk in my previous post, I realized I had never actually made my own alternative to milk. As one TKP reader and friend reminded me, there are a lot of options: almond, rice, soy, cashew, oat, chestnut, hemp and so on. They all have different tastes and consistencies and some are easier than others to find in Paris. I typically just see soy, rice and almond milk although the others are available depending on where you shop.
The thing that is so great about making your own nut milk is how easy it is. Cleaning the blender is more work than the actual process. As long as you can find the ingredients you need, which there are so few it shouldn’t be hard, you will be done in minutes. Just be sure to soak the nuts for 8 hours the night before and you can make it in the morning for cereal, oatmeal or it adds a thickness to a cup of coffee. I’ve found it to be a refreshing drink in the mid-afternoon when my now very pregnant self is craving something sweet, which seems to be almost every hour.
The timing for me to make my own nut milk was right along with the release of a new book, Juice. Blend. Taste. Put together by The Juicery, a popular juice bar based out of London, the book is filled with over 150 recipes, with contributions from different experts, for juices, smoothies and nut milks. Plus the book has the amazing illustrations from my friend Jessie. Who else can make cashews or ginger and lemon look so beautiful?
There is a lot to look forward to from The Juicery and Paris. They are working with Westin Hotels supplying their juices there daily and plan to do more in the Paris area as time goes on.
I think you can do the cashew milk without coconut water. I’m not a huge fan of coconut water unless I’ve run at least 8 miles which I haven’t done in a really long time. I did use it for this batch but think that just another cup of water would work as well. You also might want to add more water if you want a lighter consistency. I didn’t add any of the optional ingredients but instead added 4 dates (pitted) for light sweetness. I also didn’t strain mine but even if your blender mixes all of the nuts into liquid, there is still a thickness that can be slightly less if desired with a strainer.
Cashew Nut Milk
via Juice. Blend. Taste. by The Juicery.
140 grams/1 cup raw, unroasted cashews
710 ml/3 cups filtered water
310 ml/1 1/3 cups unsweetened coconut water
Optional:
A few tablespoons/soup spoons of maple syrup or honey
A few tablespoons/soup spoons of vanilla extract
Pinch of fine sea salt
Pinch ground cinnamon
A few dates
1. Rinse the cashews until the water runs clear. Soak in a bowl of water for 8 hours and drain and rinse until the water runs clear.
2. Blend the cashews and 470 ml/2 cups of the filtered water until very smooth, starting on low speed and increasing to higher.
3. Add the remaining water and the coconut water and the optional ingredients (I chose to add 4 dates, pitted for a light sweetness) and blend until smooth.
4. Depending on your blender, you might have to strain the milk if the nuts do not blend completely. I don’t even have a Vitamix but just a Magimix typical blender and it was able to blend everything.
5. You can store in the refrigerator for around 4-5 days.