Buckwheat crepes with cashew cream and rhubarb

Step 1

Rinse the cashews and chop them roughly. If you own a very powerful blender (like a Vitamix or Blendtec) this step may be completely redundant, but with my low-range (and fairly old) blender, this is the only way I can achieve a smooth consistency without adding too much liquid.

Step 2

Add all the liquids to the blender (including the vanilla) and follow by approximately one quarter of drained cashews. Blend until smooth.

Step 3

Once smooth, add another quarter of the chopped cashews. Process until smooth and repeat until you've used up all of the cashews. Towards the end, the mixture will become very thick and heavy and your blender may struggle to turn. To remedy this, start making circles on the surface of your mixture (in the direction of the turning blades) with a spatula to prevent air pockets forming under the mixture’s surface. Be careful not to dip the spatula in too deep as you don’t want to accidentally touch the turning blades. If you follow the technique I've described above, there is enough moisture in this recipe to obtain thick and smooth cream-cheese like mixture.

Step 4

Season with grated ginger to taste.

Step 5

Place the mixture in the refrigerator for a few hours to firm up.

Step 6

Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° F and grab a ceramic / Pyrex baking dish.

Step 7

Slice rhubarb into 1.25 cm / 0.5 " slices on the diagonal and place it in a baking dish.

Step 8

Add in maple syrup, vanilla and 2 tbsp of water and mix well.

Step 9

Bake for 10 minutes, until tender but not falling apart.

Step 10

Place flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and very gradually (to prevent lumpy batter) start adding in plant milk, whisking the whole time. Whisk well after each addition to ensure that there are no lumps in the batter. Initially the batter will look thick and gloopy, but it will start looking like a crêpe batter with every milk addition.

Step 11

Whisk in the smooth almond butter (I like to thin it out with a little almond milk separately first) and maple syrup and adjust the amount of plant milk to ensure the batter is the right consistency - it should be runny, but should coat the back of the spoon. I found that buckwheat flour requires more milk (approx. 600 ml / 2½ cups) than plain flour or GF plain flour mix (approx. 480 ml / 2 cups), so please proceed with caution - it's easier to thin the batter than to thicken it.

Step 12

Heat up a medium (I used 24 cm / 9.5 " pan) non-stick pan on a medium heat. Brush the pan with a small amount of oil to make sure that the pancakes do not stick. Take the pan into your hand (off the stove) and pour a thin layer of batter (I found that 80 ml / 1/3 cup of batter is optimal) into the pan and swivel it well to form a thin, round crêpe. Put the pan back on the stove and cook until the crêpe no longer sticks to the pan and can be flipped to the other side. Once flipped, cook the crêpe on the other side for another minute or so.

Step 13

Put cooked crepes in a stack so that they do not dry out and become brittle.

Step 14

Once ready to serve, fill each crêpe with the cream and baked rhubarb. Sprinkle with chopped pistachios, if you wish.