A Fortunate Mistake

Chef Ronnie of the Burnside Brewing Company has had most of my beverage books the last few weeks. I've been making a few syrups from Fix the Pumps. It's amazing just how much different sodas made with fruits and pure fruit oils taste. Real orange soda is more like Orangina than Orange Crush. And Orange Crush is nothing like the original Crushes which were sodas that contained fresh macerated fruit. Vanilla Cream soda made with pure vanilla extract is much different than the artificial vanillin drek  you find in the soda aisle.

Yesterday I decided to make Bisque, an almond soda with vanilla. A few minutes into the process I discovered the jar on the shelf had cashew pieces, not almond. With a few changes it turned out, well, pretty darned good. Here's the recipe.

 Cashew Syrup

• 8oz unsalted raw cashews
• Soda syrup (3:2 sugar to water by weight)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Sufficient soda foam

1. Grind the cashews to a coarse powder
2. Roast at 450F until the nuts are browned
3. Boil them in 12 oz of syrup for a few minutes
4. Strain the mixture into a vessel
5. Decoct the nuts again with 12 oz more of syrup
6. Add sufficient syrup to make a quart
7. Add 1/4 tsp salt to bring out the flavor of the cashews
8. Strain or filter into bottles
9. Serve 1-2 oz "solid" in a 12 oz glass 

Those Damned Cashew Patties That Jumped Out of the Fridge and Attacked Me

• Cashew residue from Cashew Syrup

1. Form into thin 2" diameter patties on a non-stick baking sheet
2. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes
3. Cool on racks