Vegan Hard Sliceable Cheese

 Variations:

• Add 1 tsp of garlic powder and 2.5 tbsp of liquid smoke to the recipe to give it a Smoked Gauda feel.

• Brush a mixture of oil and your choice of spice on the sides and bottom of your mold/ container before you pour the cheese mixture in. After the cheese will firm up, you'll have a beautiful looking spiced cheese.

Tools:

• Pot
• Big spoon
• Cheese mold (could be any container you choose)
• Whisk
• Rubber spatula

• 270 ml pea milk
• 10 g Kappa-carrageenan
• 170 ml water
• 1.25 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp of onion powder
• 1.5 tsp  Himalayan salt
• 12 g of tapioca flour
• 65 g olive oil

Instructions:

1. Weigh all ingredients before starting to cook. Pre-oil your cheese mold by spraying or wiping it with an oiled paper towel. You don’t want excess oil.
2. Pour the milk and the water into the saucepan, add the Kappa-carrageenan and whisk well.
3. Place the saucepan on medium heat. The Kappa-carrageenan fully dissolves at 140 F/ 60 C temperature.
4. Incorporate the rest of the ingredients while still whisking the mixture. 
5. The mixture will slowly get thicker, you are looking for a stretchy (melted cheese like) texture.
6. Fix seasoning according to taste.
7. If you want to make the cheese more yellow you can add a little bit of turmeric. The cheese in the picture above has no turmeric in it.
8. Pour the mixture immediately in to the prem-oiled cheese old, using the rubber spatula, make sure to get everything.
9. Let the cheese cool down at room temperature.
10. Seal the mold /container with a lid or plastic film and place in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
11. The cheese will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days.
12. Enjoy!

1. If you want to make those pretty holes that give the cheese more of a classy look, You can use a round piping tips to make the shape. I used several different tips with different diameter holes and played with the angles, to make the holes look more authentic.
2. The Kappa carrageenan sets pretty quick, don't wait too long before pouring the mix into the mold. Quick work will help you avoid lumpy texture.
3. Soy milk will work just as well for this type of cheese, I have never tried almond/oats milk.
4. I love this ratio of Kappa for the cheese because the end result is firm enough to be sliced nicely, but still melts when heated properly.
5. If you are looking to make a slightly more cheese like melt, you can reduce the amount of kappa by 2 grams, that would result a in a slightly less stable cheese but a great cheese for melting.