RECIPE: Nutritious and Tasty Activated Brazil Nut Milk

Making nut milk is a hugely popular pastime for health nuts and vegans alike. Not only because it is so simple to make, but for its fantastic health benefits. Nothing matches the protein, fat and neutral flavour profile of cow’s milk like Brazil nut milk. And it also tastes brilliant in iced coffee. What’s not to love?

Misplacing your keys, failing to lock the front door or simply forgetting to buy some milk for your morning coffee can really ruin your day – or a morning at least! It was one such milk-forgetting occasion that left me bereft of my morning caffeine hit. That was until I was forced to improvise and come up with something better from the contents of my pantry: homemade Brazil nut milk. They say that necessity is the mother of invention!

In fact I can thank more than just my bad memory for discovering Brazil nut milk . I must also show my gratitude to the little mammal of the Brazilian rainforest, the Agouti, which tirelessly opens the big pod that drops from the Brazil nut tree and takes out the 20 or so Brazil nuts contained within. The Agouti will then eat a few nuts to reward themselves for their hard work and proceed to bury the rest of the Brazil nuts for a later and leaner time. Luckily for us the Agouti does not have a very good memory and tends to forget where all of their Brazil nut (seeds) are buried. These eventually sprout and turn into trees that can grow up to 50m tall. Without the help of the Agouti and it’s terrible memory, there wouldn’t be a wealth of wild Brazil nut trees (yes the Brazil nuts we all eat are wild!) in the rainforest for us to harvest and then eat!

Oh and before I forget I should mention that Brazil nut milk has more protein, calcium and unsaturated fats than cow’s milk. It can also cost less than milk to make if you are prepared to buy your Brazil nuts in bulk – but either way it isn’t overly expensive to make!

Brazil Nut Milk Ingredients (makes 1lt):

• 100g ROAR activated brazil nuts
• 1 litre water (ideally filtered)
• 50cm² muslin cloth or a clean tea towel
• 2 tbsp ROAR coconut sugar

You can use sugar, honey, dates or any other sweetener you wish – ROAR coconut sugar thickens the milk slightly and gives it a great flavour, it is also one of the healthier choices of sweetener.

You can also add 1 tsp of vanilla extract if you wish. I personally think it complicates the flavour as I like quite a neutrally-flavoured Brazil nut milk, but it does taste nice.

Brazil Nut Milk Method:

Blend the activated Brazil nuts, coconut sugar and the water in a high powered blender until the nuts are ground very very fine – the finer the better! If your blender is not very powerful don’t stress, it should still work fine. You may have to try using slightly more water to nuts ratio, but try out this ratio first.

Leave the nut water to sit and infuse for at least an hour. Stir occasionally if you can. Leave it in the refrigerator overnight if possible. If you’re short of time you can strain it straight away, but you will just have a slightly more watery Brazil nut milk.

After leaving to sit, strain the Brazil nut mixture through a muslin cloth. You can use a clean tea towel if you don’t have any muslin cloth, but it will take a while to strain through. Or failing that you can use a fine tea strainer, but the consistency of your milk will be grainy. Either way it will still taste delicious!

Chill and stir before serving. This Brazil nut milk goes brilliantly with coffee and iced coffee. It is also great in smoothies, cereals or as a stand-alone drink.