This recipe for vegan baked brie is so authentic, you could take it to your Francophile best friend’s house, serve it for book club, and not a soul would know the difference. We’re utilizing some uncommon ingredients to achieve this texture, similar to my recipe for mozzarella and cheddar. Since I wanted a milder flavor for this baked brie, I used my favorite tofu, Mori-Nu Silken Tofu Extra Firm, to balance out the strong cashew flavor. I love that Mori-Nu is a complete protein, so you can still get protein without the dairy. I think you’ll find that the ease of using a shelf stable tofu like Mori-Nu for this recipe makes the several hour wait to eat worthwhile! And its velvety texture contributes to the creaminess of this delicious plant-based “cheese.” Now into the good stuff.
The first steps of this recipe tell you to blend all of the ingredients until completely smooth in a high speed blender. If you don’t have a high speed blender, you can soak the cashews ahead of time to make your blending easier. I’d like to make a note here that a high speed blender can get this mixture up to a temperature so that the tapioca starch and kappa carrageenan begin to do their starchy magic. Don’t be alarmed if this happens, it will get heated completely through in the saucepan anyway!
Since tapioca starch and kappa carrageenan have different activation heats, we will need to heat our mixture completely up to above boiling for it to properly set. I cook my cheese over medium heat in a non stick saucepan while constantly stirring to avoid the mixture breaking. The cheese will begin to curdle slowly, then as each starch gets activated, it will smooth out into a creamy, stretchy sauce.
After cooking, our cheese mixture needs to cool and solidify a bit. The coconut oil in this recipe will help it firm up upon refrigeration, so don’t be worried if the texture seems too loose when transferring to a lined bowl. It may take up to four hours for your cheese to fully “set”, but since we’re cooking it in a puff pastry, you can skip this step as soon as the cheese is firm enough to “plop”.
When cheese is fully set, just wrap in a vegan friendly puff pastry and bake until puff pastry is golden brown, and the cheese will simply melt inside of the crust. This is the part where your own creativity can come in, puff pastry can be shaped in a variety of ways, and its excellent topped with a sweet jam or fresh herbs. Change it up to your liking! Click below to go to the recipe.
Avocados and Ales 