Vegan Ash-Ripened Camembert

Back at it with another vegan cheese! Vegan Ash-Ripened Camembert!

As explained in the post last year, I was disappointed to see many people making my cheese recipes and not giving any credit, or even worse, claiming they created the recipe themselves. Some people went even further, trying to sell it through their business to customers. I can say that because they used the same “scramble” technique I created to have large blue veins inside the blue cheese.

Many of you sent me support emails at this time, and I really appreciate it. I figured you guys should not be deprived of new recipes just because of a few people. I realized there is no copyright on vegan cheese making; it doesn’t belong to anyone. Ultimately, the goal is to promote veganism, and the more experiments we share, the further we can go. That’s why I’m working on new cheese recipes I will publish here soon. There are three in the works, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I thought I would share a recent experiment. This is more like an alternative version of my aged vegan camembert than a whole new recipe. However, I thought I would still share it because the taste is a bit different. And doesn’t it look cool? And it contains only 6 ingredients!

This camembert is first coated with vegetable ash and then naturally covered by a white mold (Penicillium camemberti). It also has a thin black line in the middle to make it look even cooler, a bit like Morbier cheese.

Vegetable ash (also called activated charcoal) is mostly used for aesthetics here, but it also helps lower the cheese’s acidity, giving it a milder flavor. The other advantage of using ash is that the white mold will grow quicker on the outside and prevent other bad molds from appearing.

I added some white miso to make the cheese a bit different taste-wise. It creates a more buttery flavor. Make sure to use a light one. Otherwise, it will be too salty.

Please check the links in the recipe regarding where to find the mold, cultures, and vegetable ash. If you are located in Europe, I recommend checking out cashewbert.com. They have everything you need to make all sorts of vegan cheeses, from cultures to supplies.

The technique is very similar to the one used in camembert cheese making, except you fill half of the molds with the cashew cream, sprinkle some vegetable ash, and cover with the rest of the cream. This creates a thin line in the center. For the exterior, you will use a mix of salt and ash. Salt will help the mold grow, penetrate the cheese, and add flavor.

After about 5-7 days, you should start to see some white mold growing on top of the ash. Now things are getting exciting! As you continue to flip it once a day, the mold will slowly cover the whole surface of the cheese and completely cover the black ash.

Once fully coated, you can wrap it in cheese paper and let it age for at least one additional week in the refrigerator. Complex flavors will develop, and the cheese will be then ready to eat.

The ash makes this cheese unique and will definitely surprise your guests once they cut through it and take a slice!

This vegan ash-ripened camembert would make a great addition to a vegan cheese platter with camembert, blue cheese, and hickory smoked vegan cheese!

If you have questions, please check out the comments on the vegan camembert post before. There is a lot of useful info, and questions answered.

As always, let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!

About the Author

Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.

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