Artisan Vegan Cheese part two - pub cheddar and peppercorn chèvre

I had a first go at making cheeses from Artisan Vegan Cheese recently, and so impressed was I (not to mention so replete with rejuvelac in need of using up) I thought I'd give it another go.

One recipe that had been whispering my name since I got the book was pub cheddar. Cheddar was pretty much the king of cheese for me in the pregan days, and adding the prefix 'pub' was only going to make it better. What makes it 'pub' cheddar, I hear you ask? Because it has beer in it. Oh yes.

You already know this is going to turn out well, don't you? The beer for this experiment was Black Sheep Ale, and there was pretty much a whole bottle left over once I'd contributed enough for a half-recipe of the cheese - what better to help me relax after a very stressful cheese making session.

Alright, it wasn't that stressful at all. With the rejuvelac already made, it was just a case of blending up some cashews and other bits and pieces - nooch, beer, chives, that sort of stuff - and leaving it all to culture.

It wasn't a very firm cheese, but it was hugely tasty. It didn't bear a huge resemblance to cheddar though, but it had the smooth spreading consistency and sharp tanginess that made it more than satisfying.

The other cheese was the pink peppercorn and lemon chevre. It was no pub cheddar, but it had such an interesting flavour - pink peppercorns are now on my 'use more often' pile - that I was blow away. It's a nice, smooth spreadable cheese - just the sort of thing that will get you over that bored-of-bagles hump.

Two definite winners, and both convinced me that I'll be digging out Artisan Vegan Cheese once again. Now I've mastered the art of rejuvelac, as well as the art of eating my own body weight in cheese, there's no stopping me.