Soak your cashews in filtered water and 1 tsp salt for 4-12 hours

Drain and rinse the nuts and add into your blender with the remaining salt and Sauerkraut brine and water

Blend until completely smooth- this can take quite a while and you should ensure your mixture doesn’t get hot, you might need to blend in 1 minute increments. Take the time to make sure its super smooth and don’t be afraid to use your tamper to get things going.

Put the blended mixture into a clean glass or ceramic jar. Take time to do this, ideally creating a clean layer of cashew mixture. Clean off any mixture that sits on the rim or sides of the jar (to prevent mould growing). Screw the lid on tightly. If you don’t have a jar with a lid, or an airtight lid, you can simply cover with a cheesecloth. Both the starter culture and salt will help to prevent putrifying microbes from entering, so this should be enough. NOTE: In the past I recommended using olive as an airlock. After a few readers suggested this could be unsafe (in that it has a tiny potential to allow bacteria to grow) I no longer recommend this method- I need to do more research on the subject here. Note: You don’t need to sterilise your jar- though you’ll never regret doing so. I use a Kilner jar, and simply wash under hot water using my hand (allowing to air dry). Make sure you leave enough room at the top of the jar (at least 5 cm/2 inch) for the cheese to grow. As it ferments, lots of bubble will form and the cheese will expand upwards.

Leave your mixture to ferment in a warm spot (out of direct sunlight) for 12-36 hours. Fermentation time will vary depending on the weather (the warmer the quicker), as well as what you want your finished product to be like. The longer the fermenting process, the sourer your cheese will be. The ideal temperature to ferment is around 24C- so if you are fermenting in winter it can take considerably longer! Try to create a warm spot- see blog post for what I do.

You will know your cheese is ready when its nice and aerated, use a clean spoon to taste your cheese to see if you want a stronger ferment. You may find the top of the cheese has formed a skin- don’t worry, its perfectly fine. If you’re adding in optional flavours, do so now by simple stirring them through the creamy paste.

Store in a dark glass jar in the fridge for up to 3 months.