An absolutely unexpected and most delightful discovery! It all kinda happened as a offshoot of us making the most delightfully creamy chia seed milk puddings. If you're familiar with chia seeds, you will already know that these little fiber packed seeds must be soaked in a liquid, wherein they expand, soaking in tons of the liquid and exuding a gel that mixes with the liquid to form a wonderful pudding like texture. So creamy and delicious but we wanted to find an alternative to using dairy. And thus we discovered homemade almond milk...an amazing alternative to dairy milk!
It starts with plain almonds. Not salted or spiced, just plain ol almonds, unroasted and unsalted. You can get a great deal on raw almonds if you buy in bulk! Just be sure to store almonds in ziplock bags with as much air removed as possible. This will keep it fresh for a long time.
The usual way to proceed to make almond milk is to give the almonds a long cool soak in water. Use room temperature boiled water to cover all the nuts completely and then put in the fridge for the long soak. This softens the almonds and gets them ready to be pureed.
If you're pressed for time you can alternatively try the quick soak method to make almond milk, which is to heat up some water to boiling, add the nuts in and then immediately remove from heat, letting the nuts soak for a bit to soften. The heat in this method is supposed to make the almond milk slightly more creamy. We've tried both methods and they're both delicious.
Either way, the almonds softening can be seen by the loosening of the almond's skin. The water used for softening is drained away and it's time to puree! Add the softened almonds to a processor along with some fresh room temperature boiled water and blitz.
Puree the almonds until the almonds are finely and evenly ground and the liquidy mixture a creamy opaque white color. The finer, the better.
The pureed almonds are poured and scraped into a cheesecloth bag positioned over a strainer and a bowl to catch the milk.
Using clean, sterilized hands, squeeze the milk out of the bag. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Great exercise for the arm muscles! Soon you will have a bowl of the creamiest almond milk.
You will be leftover with almond pulp in your cheesecloth bag. You can use this pulp in many ways, like drying it out to make almond flour, or just adding the pulp to whatever bread or cake you're making to give it an extra almondy oomph. If not using the pulp right away you can keep in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze it for longer.
A splash of your preferred sweetener and your homemade white, creamy almond milk is ready! Light, sweet and nutty and easy to make, it's the perfect substitute for dairy milk. Or heck, it's the perfect all on its own, almond milk is that creamily delicious!
If you're looking for a dairy milk substitute or just want to enjoy a refreshing satisfying drink, try out this homemade almond milk. It's awesomely almond-licious!
Homemade Almond Milk Recipe
(makes 2 cups) Prep time: 10 mins Cook time: 8 mins for quick soak method
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raw almonds, 150g
- 4 cups water, room temperature boiled water
- cheesecloth bag
- maple syrup or honey to taste
Directions:
Long soak method: If using the long soak method, add almonds and 2 cups room temperature boiled water to cover into a bowl. Place into the fridge to soak over night or for up to 2 days. Drain the almonds.
Quick soak method: If using the quick soak method, add 2 cups of tap water into a small pot. When the water boils add the almonds, cover and immediately remove from the heat. Let sit in the residual heat for 20 minutes. Drain the almonds.
Puree the almonds: Add soaked almonds and 2 cups fresh room temperature boiled water to blender or processor. Blend/puree the nuts until the almonds are finely ground and the liquid is white and creamy and opaque.
Strain the almonds: Pour and scrape the puree into a cheesecloth placed over a strainer and bowl. Using sterilized hands, press and squeeze the almond milk out of the almond puree into the bowl. Add maple syrup or honey to taste and stir to mix.
Serve or store: Chill for 30 minutes before pouring almond milk into a glass to serve. If not drinking right away, store covered in the fridge for up to maximum 2 days. Enjoy!
Recipe Note: Don't make more than you can drink in 2 days, as almond milk doesn't keep that well. Better to make it more often and enjoy the freshness!
Almond-licious at The Hong Kong Cookery:
0 comments:
Post a Comment