Fancy making your own plant-based milks, butters, yogurt, cream and cheese? Just by perfecting a few recipes, often means you are not slave to sometimes (terrible) products in supermarkets if you don’t live near good health stores or can’t afford artisan vegan cheeses.
Plant milks are not replacements for baby formula (talk to your midwife about suitable alternatives). Keep these recipes away from pets due to unsafe ingredients (nuts esp. macadamia nuts, garlic, onion etc). Read more on food safety for people & pets.
The Vegan Dairy Cookbook is for anyone who is dairy-free but likes their bowl of yoghurt or cappuccino in the morning. Learn to make 50 recipes including milks, spreads, cheeses and desserts. The book begins with important information on how to sterilise jars, very necessary if making your own plant-based dairy products (or juice, jam or chutney). After thoroughly washing and rinsing jars, you need to sterilise them in the oven (and put the lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes). Then allow to dry and cool on a clean tea towel.
In truth, many people are likely not going to make their own homemade mylks and cheezes. But if you do, this is the book to do it. And if you run a cafe, restaurant or hotel, learning these recipes will not only give superior options to your vegan and allergic guests, but will likely save you a lot of money on ready-made products too. Recipes include:
- Chive cream cheeze
- Béchamel sauce
- Aquafaba mayonnaise
- Cashew vanilla chocolate ice cream
Marleen Visser is a food photographer and stylist, who creates recipes for everyone to enjoy. She lives in The Netherlands. Also read Plant milks, another good book of recipes.
know which plant milk to use for what purpose
Plant milks are very different, so it’s good to know which ones work best in drinks (and won’t curdle) and which ones make the best mashed potato or vegan cheesecake:
- Tea and coffee tend to curdle less if you buy a good brand and add the milk first. Choose oat, soy or almond for best results (and a coffee low in acidity). Oat milk also makes the best cappuccinos and hot chocolates. Soy milk is best for iced coffees.
- Soy milk is best for baking as it has the right protein and consistency. Or you can alternatively use oat or almond milk.
- Coconut milk is good for most things, but it does have a distinct flavour which usually still carries through. Choose brands like Biona that are free from monkey-slave harvesting.
- Rice milk is quite thin, and people who like thick dairy milk likely won’t use it on cereal, but it can be good for other purposes. For thick creamy sauces, go for oat, coconut or soy.
