To grow cashews, you need a cashew tree. First, the cashew apple grows off of the branches of this tree, and then the cashew seed grows from this cashew apple. The cashew apple is a false fruit. It doesn't come from the plant ovary and is used as a distraction in the natural world to protect the actual cashew seed.You can cook the fruit, put it in salads, put it in sugar to keep it from going bad, or ferment it to make vinegar or alcoholic drinks. In South American countries, drinks are flavoured with cashew apple. The juice and pulp of the cashew fruit are also used to make sweets like dulce de maranon.