Sweet Cranberry Vegan "Cheese"Nouveau Raw

Sweet Cranberry Vegan “Cheese”

A few years ago my husband surprised me by fulfilling one of my many, lifelong dreams… a chance to harvest cranberries! I won’t go into the whole exciting story about the experience but I thought I would share a few pictures with you. Farm life suits me so well. I just love it! The type of harvesting that we did was called “wet harvesting” That is why I am standing knee-deep in water. hehe

Harvesting begins the day before the farmer actually collects the berries as he pumps water into the cranberry fields, up to about 18 inches. These bogs are impermeable, specifically created with layers of various growing mediums–so flooding them is not difficult. Once flooded the farmer drove a machine around, fondly called ‘egg beaters’ which were used to agitate the waters. This process separates the cranberries from their vines. Because cranberries grow with a little pocket of air inside them, they float. All loosened berries then come to the surface of the water.

This is where our hard labor came into play. We were handed what I refer to as “long-handled squeegees”. With those, we had to corral the cranberries to one end of the field. Cranberries were then vacuumed up a conveyor belt and dumped into trucks to be shipped off to the processing plant. Here is a fun tip… You can tell a good berry by its vibrant red color as well as its bounce-ability. Quality berries are firm and springy and bounce. Who knew?!

This was an amazing experience. Thank you sweetheart for always making my dreams come true!

My husband was pretty insistent that I share with you all just how wonderfully this cheese pairs with the Flaky ” Club” Crackers. He should know… he ate them ALL! lol It just tickled me pink.

Ingredients:

On stove top:

1 1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp agar powder

In blender:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked 2 hours
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

Preparation:

Have the “cheese” mold(s) set aside and ready. You don’t need to oil or line the mold. This will make 2 cups worth of cheese. Keep in mind that what ever impressions are in your container… it will leave that impression on your cheese. The last batch of cheese that I made said, “Recycle” on it. haha
Soak the cashews, rinse and drain. The purpose for this is to just soften them so you can blend them to a smooth texture.
In a high-speed blender place the cashews, orange juice, water, ginger, cinnamon, nut meg, and salt. Blend until it reaches a smooth consistency. This can take several minutes, depending on the blender.
Add dried cranberries and blend for about 30 seconds, long enough to break them up a bit into the batter. Set aside.
In a small pan combine water and agar. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often with a whisk, until completely dissolved, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Pour the agar mixture in the blender with the other ingredients and process until combined, scraping down the sides of the blender jar as necessary. You will need to move quickly. Agar sets up fast.
Pour the batter into the containers that are set aside and cool uncovered in the refrigerator.
When completely cool, cover and chill several hours.
Store covered the fridge for up to 14 days.

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Posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2012 at 8:46 pm. Filed under: Seed / Nut Cheeses Tags: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free, Soy Free, sugar-free RSS 2.0 feed.

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4 thoughts on “Sweet Cranberry Vegan “Cheese””

Taffy says:

December 6, 2012 at 9:20 pm

Hi Amy
Everything you make is so yummy and beautiful!
I think you and your wonderful husband should move to Southern Oregon and open a raw food restaurant.
You’d pack em in everyday.
I would love to work with you.

Much Love and God’s Blessings, Taffy

Reply
- amie-sue says:
  
  December 6, 2012 at 10:56 pm
  
  Hi Taffy…. well we just set our roots over here… so you will need to come here. hehe Thank you for the sweet words. hugs amie sue
  
  Reply
Julie says:

March 4, 2013 at 10:08 am

What a beautiful presentation! What are the greens that you garnished the plate with?

Reply
- amie-sue says:
  
  March 4, 2013 at 10:15 am
  
  Hi Julie… that is fresh rosemary :) Have a blessed day, amie sue
  
  Reply