- All right, so it's that time of the year
where, like, big cheese boards and charcuterie boards
are totally trendy and just look, it's like,
it's a nice way to make something look really festive,
but it's really easy to put together,
so today I'm gonna show you how I turned cashews
into a cheese, like a festive cheese ball.
We're gonna make a cheese ball,
and I'm so excited 'cause today's video
is sponsored by Almond Cow, the plant-based milk maker.
All right, so like I said before,
it's the time of year where, like, charcuterie boards,
I mean, charcuterie boards are always good,
and, like, a really nice, chic way to present snacks
if you're throwing a party or a barbecue
or a get-together or just want to have
like, a romantic movie night with your significant other.
These really nice snack boards, charcuterie boards,
cheese boards, whatever you want to call them,
are a great way to class things up with minimal effort.
And you can buy a ton of really great plant-based cheeses
at the store, but often they're expensive
or they're hard to find,
so I'm gonna show you how to make a nice, festive
holiday version of a cheese ball made with cashews,
but also rolled in cranberries and pistachios.
So this cheese is based off of a combination
of many different types of cheeses
that I've made over the years.
It's kind of like my feta mixed with my cream cheese
mixed with my mozzarella.
What makes it festive is we are going to add
a little bit of cinnamon, cranberries and pistachios.
Now, I know pistachios are super expensive,
so if that is outside of your budget,
you can also use almonds or walnuts.
Any sort of nut is perfect for this.
In terms of ingredients, we are going to be using
the typical things that we always use
for that umami taste, that kind of fermented,
cheesy flavor that we need.
So we have our miso, we have our apple cider vinegar,
we have our lemon juice.
And then for that cheesy pull apartness,
we have tapioca starch.
Again, if you can't find tapioca starch,
you don't have it available to you,
you can use a cornstarch,
but I definitely recommend tapioca
because it definitely gives you that pull that you want.
In the actual cheese itself,
there's going to be cranberries and cinnamon,
and then once that sets, we're gonna roll that
in a nice nutty, sweet cranberry, like, nut coating.
Then for the base, I wanted to make it cashews,
just because that is one of my favorite nuts for cheese,
and I have my Almond Cow here,
which I've been using to make my own plant-based nut milks
and creamers at home.
And what you get when you're leftover with making
like a, whether it's a cashew milk or a cashew creamer
is the pulp, and I don't want to throw that away
'cause I find that it's super wasteful.
So we're going to use that pulp to make the cheese,
along with more cashews.
And it is kind of that perfect consistency
to use in a cheese.
I mean, why would I double up just normal cashews
when I have this perfectly good pulp
that I have leftover from my Almond Cow.
It gives it a really nice zero waste approach to cooking.
All right, so between my partner and I,
we go through a lot of plant-based milk.
Like, I'm talking upwards of 10 cartons of plant-based milk
between our coffees, teas, what we do here filming.
It's a lot of recycling and waste,
so I got this to kind of cut down on that.
It makes, you know, whatever plant-based milk you want,
whether it's from cashews or oats or coconut or almonds,
it makes it in, like, a minute and it's super easy.
You don't have to worry about straining it,
so you don't end up with all that sediment in the bottom
that you would normally get
if you make it in a blender or something.
So we've been using this and loving it
because it's just easy.
I don't have to worry about the waste.
Like, the amount of recycling that I already have,
which we're trying to cut down on, it's a lot,
so this cuts down on that quite a bit.
All right, so I'm putting my cashews into the filter basket
and then I just connect it to the top.
I put the water into the Almond Cow
and then put the filter basket and the top
into the Almond Cow and press the button.
(appliance buzzes)
And then you just lift out the top.
That's where all your pulp is going to be for our cheese.
And that is your cashew coffee creamer,
or cook with it or whatever, bake with it.
You can do that too.
(cashew milk sloshes)
All right, so I have this cute little jug
that I've been putting my plant-based milks into
and then just using whatever container I have at home
for the coffee creamer.
So that's really cutting down on the waste.
Every single Almond Cow potentially helps save
500 cartons from going into a landfill, which is huge,
especially when you're cooking as much as I am,
and then you can also make milk out of nuts,
grains, seeds, and you can also make lattes and lemonade,
and then you use the pulp like we're going to do today
to make other things, like cheese, crackers,
and a variety of different types of recipes,
and they have a ton on their website, too.
All right, so now let's make our cheese.
So you can make whatever kind of cheeseboard you want.
I'm making this more festive, so with the cranberries,
the nuts, the cinnamon, that sort of thing.
But, I mean, if you want a herbed cheese,
throw some herbs in there, some garlic, whatever.
I find the easiest way to do this
is just to use a piece of parchment.
And I don't have a cheese mold,
but I have a small bowl, so we'll use that. (bowl clangs)
Crumple the parchment.
Push that into whatever mold you're using.
I like it to be round, so we're using round,
and then just set it aside.
The easiest way to work with parchment is to crumple it up
because then it'll keep whatever shape you need it to
instead of just rolling on top of itself.
The cheese ball or cheese, I don't know, oval
is going to be just rolled in this pistachio
and cranberry coating once it's set,
so you can just go ahead and do that and just set it aside.
So this is the pulp from the Almond Cow.
This is all cashew, so I made a cashew milk,
and then I also made a cashew creamer.
I have found the easiest way to do it
is just take the pulp and put it in a Tupperware,
throw it into your fridge, and then when you have enough,
you can make something with it, or try freezing it.
That's a great way to keep it, as well.
So I'm going to throw that into the blender
with the rest of my ingredients.
Into the blender we're adding our cashews,
our pulp, miso, apple cider vinegar,
lemon, cinnamon, salt,
oh, and cranberries, duh,
and putting all of that in there and blending it together.
(blender buzzes)
So now I'm just going to transfer the whole mixture
into a pot, but don't turn it on yet.
(upbeat music)
Now we're going to cook this down over a medium heat.
What this is going to do
is it's going to make that tapioca starch,
like, really starchy and get that stretch.
It's also what's going to help it set.
So definitely stir it constantly
and cook it for the full five to 10 minutes.
It'll thicken.
It will no longer be this runny consistency.
It will be nice and thick.
It actually kind of looks like cookie dough or something,
but that's exactly what you want.
It gets nice and thick,
and then we're going to put that into the mold
that we created earlier.
(upbeat music)
(parchment crinkles)
I'm gonna let this come to room temperature
and then I'm gonna place it in the fridge.
All right, so to serve your cheese
or really any cheese that you want to serve,
you have to put a charcuterie board together,
so let's do that.
This is where the cheese is gonna go.
(upbeat music)
All right, so after it's been in the fridge overnight,
you might have a little bit of condensation,
it's set.
Put your coating on the outside.
So it doesn't really matter kind of what it looks like here.
Firmly press that on.
You can also put some plastic wrap down,
and then when it's completely coated,
like, wrap it around it and really press it,
but you don't have to.
Your hands work perfectly fine and they're waste free.
(upbeat music)
All right, so we have our cheese board.
We have our homemade vegan cheese ball
using the pulp from our Almond Cow.
This is the easiest, most delicious way
to serve your guests if you are having a people
over for the holidays or just, like,
want to have a little date night at home.
(moans)
This is so good, oh my God.
This is like all the cheese balls
I remember getting as a kid.
We used to go to the grocery store
and my mom would get a sweet one, and then a savory one.
(moans)
All, all of my childhood memories are coming back.
And this is delicious.
I would say it could be better than the ones I remember,
but like I said, this one is sweet,
but you can make this savory
just by subbing in a couple different ingredients,
Super, super easy, and, like, we love the fact
that we can use the pulp from our Almond Cow.
All right, so that's how to make a super easy
vegan festive cheese ball.
Let me know if you have any requests for recipes
in the comments section down below,
and a huge thank you to Almond Cow.
Make sure that you check them out.
I will leave a link in the description box down below,
and if you are interested in this amazing
plant-based milk making machine,
just, you know, for whatever reason,
whether you don't like store-bought plant-based milks
or you are a little concerned
about how much waste you're using
with all those cartons like I was
and you're interested in checking them out
or picking one up, I do have a code.
It's EDGYVEG.
You get 15 dollars off.
I will leave that also in the description box down below
with the link, so definitely check them out
and thank you so much to Almond Cow
for sponsoring today's video.
So if you liked this recipe
and you want more holiday content
or just vegan cheese in general,
give this video a big thumbs up
so that I know that you liked this recipe.
And if you're new here,
hit the subscribe button and the bell notification,
and I'll see you guys next time, bye.
(upbeat music)