The cashew nut is a popular snack, and its rich flavor means that it is often eaten on its own, lightly salted or sugared. Cashew nuts are sold covered in chocolate, but less often than the cheaper peanuts and almonds.
Cashew nuts and apples (the actual fruit) are important items in processing. Nuts are consumed primarily as table nuts, but some are also used in bakery products and as confectioneries. Kernels are popular ingredients in making ice cream. The cashew apple can be made into candy, jelly, jam, and chutney; and its juice processed into wine and vinegar.
Candied Cashew
Ingredients:
* Cashew nuts 300 g (21 tbsp)
* Sugar, granulated 200 g (14 tbsp)
* egg yolk 1 pc
* Butter 112 g (8 tbsp)
Procedure:
1. Combine the ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Cook until thick.
3. Place the small paper cups and brush the tops with beaten egg yolk.
4. Bake in hot oven until brown.
Pastillas De Casuy
Ingredients:
* Condensed milk 1 can
* Cashew nut, ground 150 g (10 1/2 tbsp)
* Corn syrup 20.5 g (1 1/2 tbsp)
* Flavoring 5 ml (1 tsp)
Procedure:
1. Combine all ingredient and cook until paste-like in consistency.
2. Transfer into buttered board, and roll out until it is 1.5 cm thick.
3. Cut into pieces and roll into sugar.
4. Wrap in wax paper.
Cashew Wine
Procedure:
1. Select sound and ripe cashew apples.
2. Extract their juice either by pressing them through a piece of cheesecloth or by pulp fermentation for two to three days before pressing the juice. Pulp fermentation means that the cut cashew apples are inoculated with wine yeast and then allowed to ferment to two to three days. The juice can be easily pressed out with this method.
3. To the extracted juice, add sugar at the rate of one part sugar to five parts juice.
4. If the juice is extracted without pulp fermentation, heat to 80°C for 30 minutes to kill undesirable organisms. Cool at room temperature and add the wine yeast (15% of the total volume).
5. If the juice is extracted after the pulp fermentation treatment, add 10% starter.
6. After inoculation, loosely cover the mouth of the fermenting jar with cotton for two to three days or until vigorous fermentation subsides.
7. Cove the mouth of the fermenting jar with a bung to create an anaerobic condition. Continue fermentation for four weeks or until the release of carbon dioxide stops.
8. Decant or siphon the clear portion of the wine, rack two to three times, and then age for at least a year.
Cashew Cream
Ingredients:
* 200g cashews
* 800ml apple juice
* 2tbs sunflower oil
* sugar to taste
* vanilla essence to taste
Method:
1. Bring the cashews and apple juice to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the cashews soften (five to ten minutes). Cover, and leave to cool for a couple of hours, or overnight.
2. Remove the softened cashews with a slotted spoon, and liquidize with the oil, and as little of the apple juice as possible, adding sugar and vanilla essence to taste.
The cream is delicious with fresh fruit salad, and as an ingredient in a wide variety of desserts.
Cashew Brittle
Cashew brittle is a perfect Christmas present and a pasalubong to your loved ones here and abroad.
Ingredients:
* 2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 cup light corn syrup
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 cup butter
* 3 cups cashews
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
Preparation:
1. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil; blend in butter. Begin to stir frequently when syrup reaches the thread stage, about 230°F.
2. When temperature is 280°F, or soft-crack stage, add cashews. Stir constantly until hard-crack stage, at 300°F, is reached. Remove from heat and quickly stir in baking soda. Mix well. Pour onto two buttered baking sheets or jelly roll-size baking pans. As the candy cools, stretch it out thinner by lifting and pulling at edges with forks. Loosen from the pans as soon as possible and turn over. Break hardened candy up and store in an airtight container.
Makes about 2 pounds of cashew brittle.
Source: dost.gov.ph, uncaged.co.uk, wikipedia, southernfood.about.com
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