My life has been transformed since I successfully started making organic soy, unsweetened yoghurt! It makes me so happy. I want to get out of bed in the mornings, just so I can eat some yogurt! It is so creamy and delicious and only has four ingredients:
- organic soybeans
- water
- organic raw cashews
- probiotics
The "active" part of making the recipe also takes only about 5 minutes. Then it sits and ferments for 8 hours, then goes in the fridge - and is then ready to be gobbled up!
So here is the recipe for you to give it a try. Let me know if it changes your life too!!
Ingredients
3/4 cup raw organic cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour, then drained
32 oz carton of WestSoy organic, unsweetened plain soy milk
3 probiotic capsules or 1 scoop probiotic powder. I use Custom probiotics CP1 or their 6 strain powder
Ingredients
3/4 cup raw organic cashews, soaked in water for at least 1 hour, then drained
32 oz carton of WestSoy organic, unsweetened plain soy milk
3 probiotic capsules or 1 scoop probiotic powder. I use Custom probiotics CP1 or their 6 strain powder
1. Put approx. 1 cup of soy milk and the soaked cashews into a blender and process until smooth and creamy.
2. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add the remaining 3 cups of milk. Whisk to combine.
3. Warm over a low heat, whisking occasionally until the mixture reaches a temperature of 110 degrees F (43 degrees C) or if you don't have a thermometer, until a few drops on your wrist feels slightly warm. Remove from the heat. Don't let it go above this temperature.
4. Open the probiotic capsules and add the contents into the milk - or add the powder and whisk to thoroughly combine.
5. Pour into a yogurt maker and switch on, for 8 hours. If you don't have a yogurt maker, leave the mixture to rest in covered jar/pot in a warm place in the kitchen, for 8 hours. Taste to check the desired degree of tartness in flavor. If it isn't as tart as you like it, leave it another hour or two. Then refrigerate - it will thicken more as it cools.
6. Store covered in the refrigerator for upto 2 weeks.
Notes on the recipe:
a) Most non dairy recipes are typically not very thick. Adding the cashews thickens this one nicely, without having to add any other thickeners.
b) I use an infrared thermometer (~$15) to measure the temperature of the milk. I bought mine a few months ago and love it. Basically nothing has to touch the food - it just shoots an infrared beam and measures the temperature from that. No washing up! It's also fun to play with around the house and check room temperatures, each other, draughts, etc etc! You can of course use a regular thermometer or do the wrist heat test - but its not as much fun!
c) I haven't tried this with other milks or changed the cashew nuts for another nut. That's because I love it as it is and if it ain't broke, don't fix it! If you give it a try with something else, do report back and let me know how it goes.
d) The yogurt machine holds the yogurt at a constant 108F. If you don't have one, try leaving it in a switched off electric oven with only the inside light switched on. This should give it enough warmth to ferment. Or just put it in a warm place in the kitchen. I've tried it both ways and even when I did it side by side, there was no difference. If the temperature where you leave it is not that warm, you may need to give it 10 - 12 hours to ferment instead of just 8 hours.
e) The probiotic capsules work perfectly. The company, customprobiotics sells a yogurt starter, but I've never tried it, as I had the probiotics and they work just fine. If your yogurt doesn't ferment, its probably because you have used a different probiotic that isn't "live"!
f) I have only used WestSoy milk for this recipe as it is made from only whole organic, non-GMO soybeans and water. No other ingredients. It has a high protein level and reasonable fat content. Don't try fat free as you need the fat to make the yoghurt thicken.
g) Once you've made your first batch, instead of re-inoculating subsequent batches with fresh probiotic every time, you can just keep approx. 1/4 cup of the previous batch of yogurt and add that to the milk and cashews. The bugs will still be alive. I tend to do this for a few batches, but then start afresh with fresh probiotics every 6 or so times.
h) Sometimes some liquid separates slightly from the yoghurt. You can pour this off or just stir it in. Your choice, depending on how thick you want the yoghurt. You can also strain the yogurt and make soft cheese from it too.
i) If it doesn't set or get sour, its probably because your probiotics are no longer active. This should be a spoonable yogurt.
I start my day with my yogurt with added fruit grown in our garden - like pears and figs right now -- and then also use it at other times through the day - add it with some turmeric to steamed cauliflower, make a salad dressing with it. How will you use yours?
2. Transfer to a medium saucepan and add the remaining 3 cups of milk. Whisk to combine.
3. Warm over a low heat, whisking occasionally until the mixture reaches a temperature of 110 degrees F (43 degrees C) or if you don't have a thermometer, until a few drops on your wrist feels slightly warm. Remove from the heat. Don't let it go above this temperature.
4. Open the probiotic capsules and add the contents into the milk - or add the powder and whisk to thoroughly combine.
5. Pour into a yogurt maker and switch on, for 8 hours. If you don't have a yogurt maker, leave the mixture to rest in covered jar/pot in a warm place in the kitchen, for 8 hours. Taste to check the desired degree of tartness in flavor. If it isn't as tart as you like it, leave it another hour or two. Then refrigerate - it will thicken more as it cools.
6. Store covered in the refrigerator for upto 2 weeks.
Notes on the recipe:
a) Most non dairy recipes are typically not very thick. Adding the cashews thickens this one nicely, without having to add any other thickeners.
b) I use an infrared thermometer (~$15) to measure the temperature of the milk. I bought mine a few months ago and love it. Basically nothing has to touch the food - it just shoots an infrared beam and measures the temperature from that. No washing up! It's also fun to play with around the house and check room temperatures, each other, draughts, etc etc! You can of course use a regular thermometer or do the wrist heat test - but its not as much fun!c) I haven't tried this with other milks or changed the cashew nuts for another nut. That's because I love it as it is and if it ain't broke, don't fix it! If you give it a try with something else, do report back and let me know how it goes.
d) The yogurt machine holds the yogurt at a constant 108F. If you don't have one, try leaving it in a switched off electric oven with only the inside light switched on. This should give it enough warmth to ferment. Or just put it in a warm place in the kitchen. I've tried it both ways and even when I did it side by side, there was no difference. If the temperature where you leave it is not that warm, you may need to give it 10 - 12 hours to ferment instead of just 8 hours.
e) The probiotic capsules work perfectly. The company, customprobiotics sells a yogurt starter, but I've never tried it, as I had the probiotics and they work just fine. If your yogurt doesn't ferment, its probably because you have used a different probiotic that isn't "live"!
f) I have only used WestSoy milk for this recipe as it is made from only whole organic, non-GMO soybeans and water. No other ingredients. It has a high protein level and reasonable fat content. Don't try fat free as you need the fat to make the yoghurt thicken.
g) Once you've made your first batch, instead of re-inoculating subsequent batches with fresh probiotic every time, you can just keep approx. 1/4 cup of the previous batch of yogurt and add that to the milk and cashews. The bugs will still be alive. I tend to do this for a few batches, but then start afresh with fresh probiotics every 6 or so times.
h) Sometimes some liquid separates slightly from the yoghurt. You can pour this off or just stir it in. Your choice, depending on how thick you want the yoghurt. You can also strain the yogurt and make soft cheese from it too.
i) If it doesn't set or get sour, its probably because your probiotics are no longer active. This should be a spoonable yogurt.
I start my day with my yogurt with added fruit grown in our garden - like pears and figs right now -- and then also use it at other times through the day - add it with some turmeric to steamed cauliflower, make a salad dressing with it. How will you use yours?
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6 comments:
I hope it goes well. Yum, yum!
R xx
Well, I made my first batch yesterday and it is just wonderful. I did purchase the tools you thought helpful and am enjoying them also. Today I am using the 1/4 cup of yogurt to inoculate my second batch, so we shall see how it turns out. I like the flavor much more than any commercial brand yogurt I have tried, except maybe yogurt I used to purchase while in Switzerland. It resembles that creamy Swiss yogurt I loved.
Oh good, Mary Lou! I'm so glad it worked well and that you enjoy it. Funny you should comment today as I just made your Bowl of Yumm today too and loved it! I'll blog about in the next few days. So thanks for that.
Wow!!!
Thanks I have tried it once and its so delicious & heathy. My husband got so impressed by this recipe as he is crazy about milky products.I bought all the equipments as you suggested in the article & all working fine. I will be waiting for the next.
So glad you and your husband enjoyed it Stella. Isn't the thermometer fun too!
I have tried many many times to make a successful soy yogurt that actually sets. Even the first time I tried adding cashews like this recipe it didn't set. And I had gone to the trouble of ordering live vegan yogurt starter from another state. However, I worked out that my silly "yogurt maker/thermos" is not maintaining its temperature. So this time I watched it like a dog, changing the water every few hours to maintain warmth. Also, I added some of the water from soaking the cashews (rejuvelac) to the yogurt mix as it contains prebiotics I thought it might help. After 9-10 hours it was set solid! Really solid I couldn't believe it! I left it in the fridge to cool overnight and was very excited. Upon tasting it the next morning, it's VERY SOUR. Almost bordering on off and I'm not sure adding the revjuvelac was a good idea now. For the record I like sour and I am trying to achieve a yogurt that sets and is sour, but this batch is a little overboard sour. It didn't smell funny when I put it in the fridge but I noticed a funny smell in the morning. Not sure if I left it to culture for too long. I will try again!!! (I have gone through so many cartons of soymilk! Yikes.) But I am happy with the consistency, now I will work on the right amount of culture time. Thank you for this recipe! I will let you know if I get perfection. :)
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