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This is a bit of an experiment. Whatever the outcome, it is very tasty and hot out of the saucepan would make for an excellent melted red cheddar. The question that remains to be seen is how hard it sets and if it will melt again afterwards. Assuming there's any left, I'll let you know. Now, straight out of the pan, it is a superb melted cheddar on a jacket spud.
First off, you'll need a heavy duty processor such as a Vitamix. It needs to be able to process nuts into nut butters and leave life very smooth. If you haven't already made that jump due to the cost, which I fully understand, I'll promise that you won't look back when you do. My thoughts now I have one are why, why, why did I wait so long and struggle with "getting by" with that old underpowered processor I had previously.
Secondly, my processor only really handles quantities starting with 300g (2 cups) of cashew nuts, do that's my starting point.
Finally, this recipe was inspired by a recipe, or more accurately a collection of recipes and general experience gained from making the cheeses in the book "This Cheese is Nuts" by Julie Piatt. There's no single one recipe I used, do I can't really reference anything other than the book, if you don't have it it is really worth getting even if done if the ingredients seem odd at tbe time.
A quick note on some of the ingredients. My vitamix doesn't need me to soak the cashew nuts, yours may do, if it does, soak them overnight first. The beta-carotene gel capsules; you may not want them. They are for colouring only, and dependant on their size is how many you want to use, but they do do a good job of hiding the off white heading to murky brown colour that you can end up with. The nutritional yeast powder verses flakes. The one we have come to prefer in our house is by an American brand called "Kal". They call them nutritional yeast flakes, fortified, unsweetened. They are more like a powder than flakes, do if your preferred brand is very much a flake rather than a powder, you're going to need to double, or even triple the quantity. Agar agar flakes verses powder. The quantity required will change. I've been switching tablespoons for teaspoons and vice versa. Miso paste, if you can't have soy switch it out for a chickpea based miso instead. If you haven't got a mild miso, just reduce the quantity used, to taste. Truffle oil. Should you use white, black or opt for the one that doesn't identify itself? White or unidentified is probably best for this recipe, but again it is up to you. Coconut oil. It's starting to get a bad rap, but it's a case of all things in moderation. It's high in saturated fat, but low in trans fats (those are the really bad ones). You'll need the type of coconut oil that is solid at a normal room temperature so I've not used refined coconut oil just virgin coconut oil. Finally, tapioca starch. I've no idea if mine is modified tapioca starch or not. I'm guessing not. The book "This Cheese is Nuts" is adamant that you should be using modified tapioca starch but I've lived in 2 countries now (Australia and the UK) and I've not been able to find anyone who even knows what the difference is, let alone stocks modified tapioca starch, so I've used normal tapioca starch and not seen any problems.
After all that, here's the recipe... its a doddle, process, cook, done.
Ingredients (don't be put off, it's really easy)
300g cashew nuts
500ml hot water
1 tsp sea salt
3-6 Beta-carotene gel capsules (vegan ones)
6 tbsp nutritional yeast powder
1/2 cup mild soy miso paste
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp truffle oil
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup coconut oil (the type that's solid at room temperature)
2 tbsp agar agar flakes
Method (the easy part)
- Melt the beta-carotene capsules in the hot water. Keep fingers away from them unless you want to stain them red/orange.
- Put everything into the Vitamix processor, agar agar flakes and tapioca starch last. Combine really well. You'll hear the motor start to find it a bit harder, that a good sign. Ensure it's all combined really well and totally smooth.
- Decant into a saucepan over a low heat. Stir frequently to constantly. You need to cook the tapioca starch and you don't want it to go lumpy. You'll know you're done when the sauce starts to come away cleanly from a silicon spatula as you stir and you'll see the coconut oil starting to come out of the sauce (just like it does when you melt dairy cheddar cheese).
- Divide into your 2 containers/molds. I use 2 IKEA children's bowls lightly greased with a touch more coconut oil. They'll be enough left over for a lunch of jacket spuds with melted cheddar cheddar or vegan cheese on toast (or pizza toast). Allow it to cool and set before refrigerating.
