In July, after buying 10 pounds of cherries, I made the chocolate mousse above – made with cashews instead of heavy cream – something to go with the cherries :) ! Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse – except mine was not vegan as I used processed cocoa vs raw cocoa. Anyway, it was good! The cashew mousse was my first experience cooking with cashews.

In August, I made my first Caramel Sauce… to have with peach-pecan frozen yogurt!

Similar to my light box procrastination, making caramel sauce had been on my list for some months. I’ve since made it 3 or 4 times and keep perfecting the procedure. The recipe is pretty simple…heat sugar slowly until it liquifies, then whisk in heavy cream that has been waiting with vanilla bean in it. Add some vanilla extract and salt and there you have it, caramel sauce. The “trick” is whisking the cream into the hot liquid sugar. My first two tries, the sugar “seized” and it took awhile for it to all melt back to liquid and it took a lot of stirring. I had a few nuggets that I finally removed, let cool and ate like candy…not a perfect procedure but the sauce was wonderful.

I got to thinking that maybe things would work better if the cream was warm – THAT helped tremendously. Also, you either need another set of hands holding the pot or have the pot stabilized as you slowly add the cream so that you can really go at it with the whisk and not give the sugar a chance to clump up. Another set of hands is not an option at my house so I wedged the pot firmly and major success. NOW, I can whip up a batch of caramel sauce in about 15 minutes and most of that time is melting the sugar.

This granola-yogurt-caramel sauce parfait has become my go to dessert.

Back to cashews.

I’ve been following a blog titled “In pursuit of more”. I love Shira’s premise of doing with a little less in order to give and get (in return) a little more. She and her family are doing it with food. There are many ways, though and reading her blog has been inspirational to me. Also most of her recipes! The first I tried was a recipe for Tahini Goddess Salad Dressing which has become my absolute favorite dressing.

Two weeks ago, Shira posted a recipe for a Cashew Rice Loaf with an accompanying Red Pepper “cheese” (cashew) sauce. Knowing how the cashews worked in the chocolate mousse, I was most interested in the red pepper sauce but decide to make the loaf as well. Holy cow, Batman!!! – both are wonderfully scrumptious and easy and quick. I did not get photos of my loaves, but Shira has wonderful photos with the recipe: In Pursuit of More’s Cashew Rice Loaf with Red Pepper Sauce – click over there and take a look!

I have no intention of eating 100% vegan or vegetarian, but options are good and this loaf is an excellent option for a meatless meal. I didn’t actually think of it as meatless at all. My favorite part of making a meatloaf is sandwiches with the cold loaf the next day.

And this loaf works for that as well.

The red pepper sauce has been used on pasta, veggie-rice pilaf and even on a hamburger. It is wonderful, creamy-cheesey and dairy free.

Cashew milk and cream are staples of creamy sauces and baking “milk” for those that do not eat dairy products. I don’t find anything lost in flavor or texture with the cashew cream. I eat plenty of yogurt and cheese so am happy to have this non dairy option. PLUS, heavy cream does not have much going for it nutritionally, but the cashew cream has fiber and protein to offset the fat. At any rate – an option.

So…I got to thinking about the caramel sauce and cashew cream and would the cashew cream work in place of the heavy cream (cow’s) to make the caramel sauce.

Well, it does!

The only trick to making the cashew cream is that the cashews have to soak overnight in water. Next morning, rinse them, put them in the blender (you do really need a Vita-Mix or Blend-tec for this), add water to an inch over for regular cream, less for very thick cream and whiz them smooth.

This was 2 cups of cashews which makes about 3 1/2 cups of cashew cream…1 1/4 cup with vanilla bean for the sauce and the rest into the frig for something else.

The sugar does its magic liquefying…

Whisk in the cashew cream… Add a bit of vanilla extract and some salt…

Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce!

It gets a bit lighter in color and thicker as it cools.

And then it sits in the refrigerator tempting me every time I open the darn door. That is the red pepper sauce to the right of the Ginger Beer…more temptation.

Are you hungry now???