The Best Cashew Whipped Cream (3 Ingredients)
Top all of your favorite desserts with this light and fluffy cashew whipped cream! It is made with simple, whole food ingredients (no refined sugars) and is a breeze to make. Bonus: you can make it days ahead and store until ready to use.
Servings: 16 servings (2 tablespoons per serving)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups raw cashews (or raw cashew pieces)
- boiling water for soaking
- 1/3 cup water (or more, as desired)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (see notes for options)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (see notes for variations)
- Optional: pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a medium bowl. Add enough boiling water to cover the cashews by 1 inch (2.5 cm). Allow to soak for 10 minutes. (see notes for overnight soaking)
- Drain the cashews in a mesh sieve (discard soaking water). Rinse the cashews under cold water and drain again.
- Place the drained cashews in a high-speed blender along with the fresh water, maple syrup, vanilla extract and optional salt. Blend on high speed until completely smooth, stopping several times to scrape down the sides of the blender container.
- Spoon the cashew whipped cream into a bowl, jar or other container. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator until cold. It will become firmer as it chills.
Optional: Whip the Chilled Cream
- If you like, you can whip the cashew cream to make it more fluffy! The cashew cream will not expand to the same extent as whipped dairy heavy cream, but it does aerate it, increasing the volume and making it lighter and fluffier.
- Place the chilled cashew cream in a medium mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed with electric beaters for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Use to top desserts, or pipe it and/or use to frost cakes and cupcakes.
Notes
Storage: Store the cashew whipped cream in a covered container in the refrigerator (fridge) for up to one week. Freeze the cashew whipped cream in a freezer safe bag or container. Let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. I recommend re-blending, whipping, or vigorously whisking the cashew cream to blend and aerate it.
Overnight Soaking: If you prefer, you can soak the cashews overnight: Use cold or room temperature water. Let soak for a minimum of 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
Make the Cashew Whipped Cream Looser / Thinner: This recipe produces a medium-thick cream. You can make the cashew whipped cream looser by adding a tablespoon (or more) of water as the cashews are blended. Start by adding one additional tablespoon, adding more (n small increments), as desired.
Maple Syrup Alternatives: You can use an equal amount of brown rice syrup, agave nectar, or date syrup (this will make the cream darker). You can also use an equal amount of granulated sweetener + 2 extra tablespoons of water. For example, coconut sugar, granulated cane sugar, or date sugar.
Variations
- Coffee/Espresso Cashew Whipped Cream: Add a teaspoon (or more) of instant espresso powder to the blender when first blending the cream. Alternatively, replace some of the water with a shot of espresso, or chilled, strong-brewed coffee.
- Boozy Cashew Whipped Cream: Replace a tablespoon (maybe more 😉) of the water with the spirit of your choice, such as liqueur, whisky, or brandy.
- Citrus Cashew Whipped Cream: Replace up to 2 tablespoons of the water with lemon juice, lime juice, or orange juice and add 1 to 2 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest, lime zest or orange zest.
- Spiced Cashew Whipped Cream: Add 1/8 to 1/2 teaspoon of ground spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, or nutmeg.
- Peppermint Cashew Whipped Cream: Replace the vanilla extract with 1 teaspoon of pure peppermint extract (more or less, to taste).
- Chocolate Cashew Whipped Cream: Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, plus an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of water to the mix before blending.
- Molasses Whipped Cream: Replace the maple syrup with an equal amount of dark cooking molasses (not blackstrap molasses; it is too bitter and not very sweet).
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 70kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 8mg | Iron: 1mg