NO dairy-free person can be without this stuff. If you like to ferment things, then you must try it!
I discovered "cream cheese" accidentally when I ran out of coconut milk for kefir. I had some coconut cream and just used that. Initially it made a lovely, crisp, tangy kefir the texture of clotted cream. Then, a few days later, I noticed that it had separated somewhat. The liquid at the bottom was about the consistency of coconut milk, while the cream lined the sides of the jar. On a whim, I stuck a knife in and spread some of the cream on my strawberry coconut bread. It's just like cream cheese - rich, tangy, creamy and just slightly sweet. It was like strawberry shortcake.
One quick disclaimer is that I have been using the coconut milk and cream in the little boxes from Wilderness Family Naturals. The taste is much better than the cans you get in the store, the products are organic and BPA-free. I also used Yogourmet's kefir starter.
Lest you say that my tastebuds are skewed from more than a decade without gluten and about 2 years without cow's milk, I gave my kid and my husband slices of strawberry-studded coconut bread slathered with this stuff and they ate it so quickly I thought I'd forgotten to give it to them.
Sorry. I'll have to shoot a picture next time. I ate it already. :-)
Coconut Cream Cheese
6 boxes WFN coconut cream
1 packet Yogourmet kefir starter
Warm the cream in a pot until it's between 150 and 180 degrees F for 3 minutes. Allow to cool to 110 degrees or below. Dissolve the starter in a small amount of the cream, then add the cream/starter mixture back into the cooled cream. Blend well. Pour into a large mason jar. Screw on top lightly without a seal. Allow to sit out for about 24 hours, then refrigerate.
Enjoy small amounts of the coconut cream for a while, until the cream separates and the cream cheese starts to congregate on the sides of the jar. Get a nice long butter knife and your favorite spreadables vehicle: coconut or nut bread, celery sticks, bowl of fruit, etc. Try to save some for the rest of your family. :)
3 comments:
i was just wondering how much coconut cream is in the wfn boxes and what the measure of culture is that you used? i plan on using different materials, and im not sure how much is in the boxes of those products. thank you.
Just so you know, coconut milk products from wilderness family naturals are not completely dairy-free. They add casein (which is a milk protein) to some things especially the powdered coconut milk. You migt want to check those boxes of coconut milk you get from them.
I just now saw these comments! For some reason I am not getting notice when people comment, so I apologize for being so late in responding.
Thank you, Jess, for letting me know about the casein in the WFN coconut milk...I had no idea, and casein hasn't been a problem for us in a long while, so I didn't notice. It's also so expensive that we had to go elsewhere for our coconut milk fix.
Most recently I have been playing with different kinds of coconut milk and cream, like Edward & Sons boxed cream and Native Forest BPA-free canned milk.
As far as the amount of culture, one box of the cream is 330 ml, so a little less than 1 1/2 cups (technically 1.394 cups), so 6 of those is about 8 cups. I used 6 to be the correct amount for one Yogourmet packet.
Post a Comment