When I was growing up we had a yoghurt maker and I quickly took on the role of setting up the batches of home-made yoghurt each week. But, I’d nearly forgotten about this until about 3 years ago when I was getting totally fed-up with the expensive and not very “live” non-dairy yoghurt options available. So I asked my Mum if I could get her old yoghurt maker. Sadly it had long-since died so I scoured the internet for something similar. I wanted the cute individual glass jars that I’d been used to and something attractive enough that it could happily live in my kitchen. Quickly I found something perfect and I’ve been happily making dairy-free yoghurt for myself ever since. I use a high strength probiotic containing Bifidobacterium Lactis and Lactobacillus Acidophilus (NCFM strain) and culture for around 12 hours until I have something that tastes quite sharp. Leave for a shorter time if you prefer a milder taste. The following quantities make approximately 850ml yoghurt.
| 150g Cashew nuts
400ml filtered water, coconut water or almond milk 2 tsps. coconut sugar |
½ tsp high strength probiotic powder
(or use contents of 2 capsules) 250ml coconut cream |
Soak the cashew nuts in cold water for 4-12 hours then drain and rinse thorough in cold running water
Sterilise 6 small glass jars (approx. 150ml) by scalding with boiling water and then drying in warm oven.
Add all the nuts, water, sugar and probiotic powder to a high speed blender and blend on highest setting for 2-3 minutes.
Pour the mixture into the jars and fill about two-thirds of each jar.
Place the jars on a tray and leave somewhere warm (e.g. a boiler cupboard) for 12-24 hours. Alternatively, if you have a yoghurt maker then place the jars inside and leave for 12 hours (make sure you do not put the lids on!)
When you have finished culturing, top up each jar with coconut cream and then refrigerate until completely set.
