This raw coconut cream is creamy, thick, and tastes like... well, coconut. It's almost identical to canned coconut cream you would buy in the store, except it's raw and tastes so much better.

If you've ever hit the supermarket searching for canned coconut milk, you may have found three similar products - coconut cream, full-fat coconut milk, and light coconut milk. All three products consist of coconut and water but differ in the concentration of coconut. 

Coconut cream is created by mixing four parts of coconut with one part of water. It is thick, creamy (solid when chilled), and contains 20% – 25% fat.

Full-fat coconut milk has a lower percentage of coconut than coconut cream. So naturally, it also has a thinner consistency and a lower fat content of 15% - 19%. 

Finally, light coconut milk is the most watered-down version of the three. The fat content can be as low as 5%, which is comparable to carton coconut milk (mind you, carton coconut milk typically contains much more ingredients than just coconut and water). 

Both coconut cream and full-fat coconut milk are very popular ingredients in raw desserts. However, per FDA regulations, any canned product must be pasteurized (heated above 115°F/46°C) to prevent bacterial growth. So, if you're in North America and want to make a raw dessert with coconut cream, you might need to opt for a homemade version.

Tips for Making Raw Coconut Cream

Ingredients

The only ingredient you will need to make homemade coconut cream is fresh coconut meat.

• Mature coconut meat: before coconut fully ripens, it is called green or water coconut. Under the green skin is a white soft husk. Inside the white coconut is soft, almost gelatinous meat as well as delicious coconut water. As the fruit matures, the husk turns brown, and the shell hardens. The meat inside solidifies and eventually replaces all the coconut water. Fully ripened coconut - called mature coconut - is filled with fibrous meat that is high in fat. Mature coconut meat is ideal for making thick raw coconut cream.

How to Make Homemade Coconut Cream

Raw coconut cream is a crucial staple in a raw food diet. So unless you can find commercial raw coconut cream, it's important to know how to make it at home.

• Open the coconut and remove the meat. If you've never worked with fresh coconut, refer to this blog post. I always thought that opening a whole coconut required a power drill, saw, or hammer, but all you need is a kitchen knife! 
• Peel and cut the coconut meat. When you remove coconut meat from the shell, it will have a thin brown skin. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin. Removing the skin will ensure that the coconut cream is pure white. Then cut the coconut meat into strips that will easily fit the chute of the juicer. Make sure there are no shell fragments on the coconut meat - those could break the juicer.
• Juice the coconut meat. Add the coconut meat to the juicer, ideally just one piece at a time to avoid clogging the juicer. When I use my Omega 8006 juicer, some coconut cream drips into the collecting container while the thick coconut cream builds up inside the juicer. Scrape the thick coconut cream off the auger and juicing screen once you're done juicing the coconut meat. The leftover coconut pulp will be pretty dry - especially if you're using a masticating juicer, but you can put it through the juicer once more to extract every last drop of coconut cream.

Note: after juicing the coconut meat, you will have quite a bit of shredded coconut. Dehydrate the coconut pulp at 115°F/46°C until completely dry, for 6-8 hours. The time will vary depending on how dry the pulp was. If you don't own a dehydrator, spread the coconut pulp thinly on a baking tray, and bake it at the lowest temperature for a few hours - in my oven at 212°F/100°C, it usually takes 2-3 hours.  You can turn the oven off after an hour or so and just leave the coconut in the warm oven until dry. 

How to Store Homemade Coconut Cream

• Refrigerating: transfer the coconut cream into an airtight container and refrigerate it for up to 1 week.
• Freezing: transfer the coconut cream into an airtight container and freeze it for up to 3 months.

How to Use Raw Coconut Cream

Because most of the coconut fiber is removed, raw coconut cream has a smooth, creamy texture, making it ideal as an ingredient in raw desserts. Some of the desserts I use coconut cream for include raw lime cheesecake, raw carrot cake, raw chocolate fudge, vanilla ice cream, and coconut whipped cream.

You could also mix the coconut cream with berries, blend it into smoothies, or just eat it plain right out of the jar.

More Raw Cream Recipes

• Cashew cream: coming soon!