Cashew cream is an easy to make dairy-free alternative to whipped cream.

Recipe by Yolanta Woldendorp

Strawberry season is my favourite time of year. Right now my strawberries on my lifestyle block are starting to ripen and are bursting full of flavour. Homegrown strawberries taste so much better and are much sweeter.Because I live in the country a dairy isn’t just around the corner so popping down to the shop to get some cream for my strawberries isn’t an option – so sometimes I have to improvise. Last week I whipped up a jar of raw cashew nuts into some delicious sugar and dairy-free cream.

How to make cashew cream

Combine 1 cup of raw unsalted cashew nuts, add a teaspoon vanilla essence and or vanilla bean with 180ml coconut water (more or less depending on how you like your cream thickness).

Add a little maple syrup if you prefer your cream sweeter.

Blend until smooth, a high-powered vitamix or a magic bullet will give a smooth consistency if using a regular blender then soak the cashew nuts in the coconut water for two hours before blending.

This recipe first featured in the The Water Cooler – a weekly round of staff recommendations, reviews and interesting tidbits published on thisNZlife every Friday.