Cashew cream, cashew milk, pine nut cream and pine nut milk are our secret and magical ingredients that make living without cream (except for the wee bitty bit we still put in our coffee!) easy, doable, and tasty.

Cashew cream originated in the raw foods world and is used to make some of the most outrageously decadent raw desserts. But it’s also a vegan chef’s staple, and steps in for dairy in a variety of creative ways, including cheese fillings for ravioli, ricotta, rich white sauces and as a heavy cream for soups.

As far as we know, pine nut milk is not used in the raw food community, but we use this frequently as an alternative to cashew cream/ milk.

Pretty much anytime a recipe calls for cream or full-fat milk, you can use cashew cream or pine nut cream or thinned out cashew/pine nut milks instead. Cashew and pine nut cream/milk can be stored for 2 to 3 days in the fridge, and each takes less than 5 minutes to make.

The trick when making them is to use raw cashews or raw pine nuts for the best flavor and texture. You can play around with the consistency to make it thicker for cream or thinner for milk. The basic recipes for both are below: