Sweet Cashew Cream

Use this easy sweet sauce made of raw cashews  as a garnish for cakes, pies, fresh fruits (especially nice on berries) and fruit desserts. Photos by Rachael Braun.

Makes about 1 cup

• 1 cup raw cashews
• ¼ cup vanilla nondairy milk
• ¼ cup maple syrup or agave nectar

Place the cashews in a small, heatproof bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let stand for at least 30 minutes, or up to an hour.

Drain and transfer to a food processor with the nondairy milk and maple syrup or agave. Process until smoothly pureed, stopping to scrape the sides down as needed. Add a little more nondairy milk if you need to thin the consistency a bit.

Transfer to a small serving bowl and use to dollop onto desserts, or spoon into a piping bag to create nice zig-zags (if you don't have a piping bag, use a sturdy small plastic storage bag; snip off a tiny piece off one of the corners).

• Here are lots more recipes for simple sauces and such.