Standard vegan cheese is commonly created by culturing blended nuts and waiting for them to ripen and develop a cheesy flavour. However, as we have already explained in our recipe for basic vegan cheese, there are other routes that one can take to achieve pretty amazing results, our favourite being the one that involves soy yogurt. In this recipe, we will turn our own basic cream cheese into some amazing mixed canapés with different flavour combinations, and if they taste even half as amazing as they look, I’m sure that they will blow your mind.
For the garlic and dried herbs cheese
5ozbasic cream cheese
¼ tspgarlic granules
1 tspmixed dried herbs
For the pickles and fresh herbs cheese
5ozbasic cream cheese
20 leavesparsley
20 strandschives
1 tspdill
1 tspcapers (10 medium capers)
1 smallpickled cucumber
For the traditional Italian cheese
5ozbasic cream cheese
0.3ozsun-dried tomatoes (1 half)
2 pinchesdried oregano
2 tsptomato concentrate (0.3oz)
For the tofu basic cream cheese:
5oztofu
¼ tspsalt
1 tsplemon juice
Instructions
- The first thing to do is to finely chop the parsley, the chives and the dill.
- Then, finely dice the capers, the pickled cucumber and the sundried tomato.
- For the garlic and dried herbs variation, place the basic cheese into a bowl, add in the garlic granules and the mixed herbs and stir well to combine. We used a mixture of equal quantities of dried sage, rosemary and thyme.
- For the pickles and fresh herbs cheese, mix the cheese, the fresh herbs, the pickles and the capers together, and stir to combine them.
- For the Traditional Italian, mix the cheese with the dehydrated tomatoes, the oregano and the tomato paste, and stir to combine them.
- If you can’t find soy yogurt to prepare our own cream cheese, you can use silken tofu instead by blending it together with the salt and the lemon juice, and use the mixture as a substitute for the basic cheese.
- Before using the spreads, we recommend tasting them and adjusting the salt if needed, and also to let the cheeses rest in the fridge for a couple of hours, so that the flavours have the chance to properly blend. Feel free to use your favourite base to serve these cheeses. Classic options are: regular bread, grilled bread, focaccia, vegan puff pastry and vegan short crust.
Substitutions and Tips
- Garlic granules can be substituted with fresh garlic, but make sure to add it a little at a time, as it is very powerful.
- The capers can be substituted by an equal amount of pickled onions, or simply omitted.
- For the final canapés we used: 1) Whole-wheat sandwich bread, pickles and fresh herbs cheese, and a mixture of finely diced tomatoes, zucchini, red onion and basil. 2) White sandwich bread, traditional Italian cheese, sliced cucumber and radishes, spring onions and chives. 3) Puff pastry vols-au-vent, garlic and dried herbs cheese, sliced olives and black pepper.
Yield, Times and Info
Makes: 400g - 11oz (8 servings)
Preparation Time: 15m
Storage Times: Keeps for two days in the fridge
Preparation Time: 15m
Storage Times: Keeps for two days in the fridge
Nutritional Info
Serving Size: 60g Calories: 55kcal Carbohydrate: 1.2g Sugar: 0.8g Fiber: 0.1g Fat: 3g Saturated Fat: 0.3g Unsaturated Fat: 2.7g Protein: 5.5g Sodium: 236mg
