Strawberry Cardamom Milk

Refreshing, delicious and totally worth the little bit of effort. If you were a lover of strawberry flavored milks growing up then you must try this all-grown-up version made with fresh nut milk, real strawberries, and a dash of citrusy, slightly spicy cardamom, which adds a unique depth of flavor. No artificial dyes or high fructose corn syrup here!

Ingredients

for the almond milk

• 1 cup raw almonds — soaked in purified water overnight
• 3 cups purified water

for the strawberry cardamom milk

• about 3 cups sliced strawberries
• ⅓ cup raw sugar (RFR tip: coconut sugar will work)
• 3 cups unsweetened almond milk
• 5 cardamom pods — green shells removed, seeds ground in a mortar and pestle

Instructions

to make the almond milk

1. Drain and rinse the almonds.
2. Place them in a blender along with the water and blend on high speed until completely broken down.
3. Working in batches, strain the milk into a bowl through a nut milk bag. Discard the strained pulp or save for future use in granola, baking, etc.
4. Transfer the milk to a clean bottle or jar and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.

to make the strawberry milk

1. Place the strawberries in a medium bowl and pour the sugar over them. Toss and let macerate until the strawberries yield their syrupy juice, for at least 1 hour or overnight (the longer the better).
2. Puree the strawberries together with their syrup in an upright blender until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer for the silkiest strawberry milk, this step is optional.
3. Combine the almond milk, strawberry puree and freshly ground cardamom in an upright blender and blend until well combined and frothy.
4. Pour the milk into a bottle or jar and chill very well the refrigerator. Enjoy cold.