I had a very short but sweet email today from a reader in France, asking whether the recipe for almond milk was a secret and if not, could I please share it. Well, its certainly no secret, but to call it a recipe may be to complicate the process somewhat - it really is that simple. Here we go -
There are 2 methods I know...
Quick (and rugged) Method
Grab a handful of almonds (ideally soaked overnight) and throw them in a blender with some chilled water.
Blend. Pour!
Slightly Longer (and more refined) Method
Grab a handful of almonds (ideally soacked overnight) and throw them into a food processor on the chopping blade or whatever you would use to grind nuts.
Grind them until they are coarse to fine.
Transfer the ground nuts to a blender and add the quantity of chilled water that equals the quantity of milk you want to make.
Blend until the water has gone milky.
Using a nylon straining bag (or an old stocking!) pour the contents of the blender through the bag into a jug. This will remove any skin or little nut chunks.
Pour!
Tips and Tricks
Getting the right proportion of nuts to water is such a subjective thing that my advice would be to experiment. If you want it creamier - add more nuts. Thinner - add more water.
Soaking the nuts overnight makes them easier to digest and I think it also makes them easier to blend well. There are many recipes which tell you to blanch the nuts. I wouldn't do this. If the nuts are raw, you'll kill the enzymes. Soaking is far better.
Many recipes advise adding a sweetener eg. maple syrup or honey, but almonds are pretty sweet already and unless you are making a nutmilk based drink as a treat or a shake (Try pecans, banana and a date - divine!) I wouldn't bother. If you do add a sweetener, add a pinch of sea salt too to balance the flavour. For drinks like these, the longer method is probably best, but for my seed and oat muesli in the morning, I use the rugged method so I get the skins and chunks too!
Try using different nuts and seeds too!
