Unless you’re from the Midwest like me, you probably have never heard of Blue Moon as ice cream before. This actually has nothing to do with the beer, although I have to imagine they would both taste quite nice together.
No one really knows the true flavor of blue moon, but it always tasted quite fruity to me. I imagine someone just thought “hey, let’s try to mix ALL the flavors together” and just went with it. Which is exactly what I went with here, and the flavor is spot on.
A few tips: stir the ice cream a few times in the freezer. I didn’t do this and it ended up a bit icy. The meringue will flop when you add it to the coconut milk but that’s ok, it will still add texture and size to your ice cream. I like Wilton sky blue coloring but you can use any blue coloring that works for you.
If you don’t know, I’m pretty excited about this. Every vegan I’ve ever met in real life has said the hardest thing to give up was cheese and every non vegan has told me that they would never be able to give up cheese. Fortunately, due to amazing chefs like Miyoko Schinner, Jay Astafa, Somer McGowan, and Skye Michael Conroy, we are able to enjoy cheese-like products, without the cruelty. I’ve made several forays into the world of vegan cheese and learned a lot of different techniques from many different recipes. The particular recipe that I drew inspiration from for this is the cashew mozzarella developed by Jay Astafa. You can watch the YouTube video here. I noticed he uses soy lecithin as an emulsifier, which aquafaba has been shown to do in recipes like Nina’s butter and Peanut Butter and Vegan’s mayo. This inspired me to make this cashew mozzarella using aquafaba as the emulsifier. It also makes this recipe soy free, conveniently, for those who are intolerant.
Vegan cheese doesn’t create casein protein strands like dairy cheeses do, which is why we use tapioca starch to create that stretchy texture. Some places may have it labeled at tapioca flour, but they should be interchangeable. I find mine at an international market for a cheaper price. You can also add a bit of xantham gum to increase the stretchiness. If you don’t have any, feel free to omit it, the cheese will still be delicious! I use vegan lactic acid powder to create that dairy-like tang in this recipe. It’s definitely worth the purchase, but if you cannot buy it, substitute a tablespoon of lemon juice instead. Nutritional yeast also adds to this cheesy flavor. Refined coconut oil helps with firmness upon refrigeration and improves the mouthfeel and melt. Please use coconut oil that is solid at room temperature. Cashews can possibly be subbed for raw sunflower seeds for those with allergies.
Most vegan cheeses use either agar or kappa carrageenan as a binder to be sliceable and shreddable. I choose to use kappa carrageenan, as I prefer the melt and mouthfeel it imparts. I am well aware that many people choose not to consume it and I completely respect that; this recipe may be possible with agar powder, but I have not tested it. If you do test it, please contact me with your results!
Edited to add: Several people have tried with equal amounts of agar and have had a hard time getting it to set. I would suggest doubling the amount of agar powder (use 1 tablespoon and 1 tsp). Xanthan gum will not replace the carrageenan, it’s not a firm binder like carrageenan is, just a thickener.
If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these other vegan cheese recipes:
Do you remember the brown sugar and cinnamon Poptarts?? (Not sure if that needs a copyright symbol.) These were a middle of the night “I need to remake my cinnamon roll macarons” idea. Despite aiming for cinnamon roll flavor, eating these reminded me of my favorite Poptarts.
If this is your first time here, be sure to check out Charis’s recipes at Floral Frosting, as she is the creator of this recipe. She’s got some beautiful recipes there, her buttercream is one of our favorites! You also should take a look at the Vegan Meringue Facebook group for more amazing recipes. If you have trouble with the directions, try reading my troubleshooting guide for a little more in depth description.
One of my favorite macarons I’ve made were strawberry lemonade flavored. Since it’s almost my birthday, I thought it would be really fun to combine those flavors in a dacquoise. This recipe isn’t quite as rich as my last one, but equally as flavorful. It also uses aquafaba in every layer, which I find really exciting!
Be sure to check out the vegan meringue Facebook group for more amazing aquafaba recipes and Aquafaba.com for frequently asked questions.
I grew a successful pot of basil this year, all from seeds. I’ve always purchased basil already started then moaned at how straggly and thin the plants grew throughout the summer. But not this year! I tossed in the seeds and now have a thriving, bushy plant!
I had leftover roasted hazelnuts from making my dacquoise and I figured “hey, throw them in the pesto, can’t hurt.” It’s been quite a while since I had pine nut pesto, but I can tell the hazelnuts have a different complexity to them. If you don’t have hazelnuts on hand, pine nuts or walnuts would work just as well!
I’ve been planning this in my head for almost a full month now. This is my 100th post on my blog, and I’m so thrilled to share it!
I finally got the hazelnuts last night and I was excited I could barely sleep. This is definitely something you should plan ahead for, or have a whole day devoted to cooking. I blanched my nuts and ground them the night before and prepped my buttercream the day before that. I use homemade aquafaba which may be a bit stronger than the canned kind – be sure it’s thick before attempting this. The ganache should be made close to when you start putting it together, but try not to pour it on warm as it will melt the buttercream. This recipe for vegan Italian Meringue Buttercream would be an excellent choice on this if you have the time to make it!
This recipe is highly adapted (read:made easier) from here, which I believe was originally published by America’s Test Kitchen here. Lisa Masaar originally posted her veganized version of the recipe in the Vegan Meringue Facebook group here. I adapted it from there, partially to imitate Sweet Maresa’s beautiful creations
We loved the potato carrot cheese, but I wanted a firm product to be able to throw on top of burgers and even to snack on plain. I grew up eating American slices from that company with the blue box, so I have fond memories of unwrapping cheese slices.
These are much more breakable than those rubbery squares and require a gentle hand. I would highly recommend the recipe I created for the cheese, specifically the coconut oil because it will firm upon refrigeration.
I even like this cheese in sandwiches, which is usually not true for vegan cheeses (besides Chao.)
My home town high school had a breakfast available every morning for the kids who were dropped off early or who rode the bus. My favorite was breakfast pizza (the cafeteria would be full every other Thursday morning.) This is, unfortunately, not a recipe for breakfast pizza macarons. The other popular breakfast there were the Smuckers Uncrustables peanut butter sandwiches, because apparently it was too hard to make real peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. These macarons remind me of the cloying, sweet flavor of those sandwiches in a bite size package.
If this is your first time here, be sure to check out Charis’s recipes at Floral Frosting, as she is the creator of this recipe. She’s got some beautiful recipes there, her buttercream is one of our favorites! You also should take a look at the Vegan Meringue Facebook group for more amazing recipes. If you have trouble with the directions, try reading my troubleshooting guide for a little more in depth description.
Since making Nina’s vegan butter a few days ago, I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen if I added cashew cream to the mixture. When I get ideas like this in my head, they tend to stick there until I actually make them. Some might call it “obsessive”, I call it “dedicated.”
I never think to plan ahead to soak my cashews, so I boiled them for 15 minutes to soften them for blending. This recipe will be much easier for you if you have a high powered blender – I only have a Ninja and it worked well.
I also added a few more ingredients to increase the “tang” for the cream cheese. It might seem really tangy originally but it will mellow a bit in the fridge. There isn’t a great substitute for the vegan lactic acid powder, but it’s not that expensive to purchase on Amazon or Modernist Pantry and it will really kick up your vegan mac and cheese! You can try 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice for a similar acidic flavor.
So you like Earth Balance, eh? Wait until you try this!!! I’ve been meaning to make my own vegan butter for months now, but it hasn’t been high on my agenda as most recipes call for a few ingredients I didn’t have, mainly soy lecithin. But this recipe?? Well, I had all of those ingredients in my fridge! I know you’re probably tired of hearing about aquafaba by now, but this recipe just proves it can do anything. Don’t forget to check out the Facebook group for other great recipes.
The lovely Nina at Plante Pusherne gave me permission to share this recipe here, but be sure to check out her blog for the original! She gives a lot of helpful tips and information that I’m not including here, especially for some ingredient substitutions.
This truffle herb version is amazing spread on bread or tossed with pasta (how I used it!)
Avocados and Ales 