It’s becoming more and more popular for people to try dairy alternatives, whether this is for health reasons or simply because other varieties are more readily available, almond milk in particular is starting to be increasingly popular.
Majorca is famously covered in almond trees and the popular little nuts are responsible for a large portion of the island’s economy. You can buy almond milk from most shops now, but if you have access to fresh almonds making your own from scratch is much more fun! Plus you can make as much as you need and add whatever extras you fancy.
Technique
It’s a really simple process:
- Gather or buy fresh almonds.
- Soak overnight (for at least eight hours).
- Discard the soaking water and rinse the nuts in fresh water. Make sure they’re peeled and add them to a blender with water.
- Use four or five cups of water to one cup of almonds.
- Optional: you can add a pinch of salt to taste, or you could try whatever else takes your fancy such as the inside of a vanilla pod, a dessert spoon or two of raw cacao powder, maybe some cinnamon?
- Blend on high speed for a couple of minutes.
- Strain the pulp through muslin or a really, really thin dish towel.
- Seal your milk in an airtight bottle and store in the fridge.
- You can keep the left-over nut pulp and dry it out for almond flour.
Benefits
A lot of people will argue that almond milk is just as good as for you as the traditional cow’s milk that we’ve been so used to.
- It has been argued that non-dairy milk is actually easier for our human bodies to digest.
- It’s low in calories and doesn’t contain any saturated fats
- It tastes great and gives a lovely nutty undertone to coffee and on cereals.
