Living in Eugene, I find myself picking up interesting desires that try to wrap themselves around me. They say it only takes so long before you catch the running bug after living here (this is TrackTown after all, the birth place of Nike)? and, well, I’ve done that one! One sore calf muscle later, and I find myself playing with another desire that drifts in on the Eugene breeze? veganism. Oddly enough I’m not a fan of the meat or animal politics associated with this practice- in fact given my position in Neuroscience at the University, I’ve been quite the anti-PETA spokesperson. However, I do enjoy the inventiveness of veganism cooking? it’s quite crafty!
Cooking vegan throws down quite a cooking challenge! Unlike vegetarianism, vegan cooking outlaws the use of eggs, dairy, and gelatin too. Strict vegans don’t consume honey or beer (enslaved yeasts and all?). I find I like throwing a challenge or puzzle like this into my cooking. However, since I am not in this for my politics, and won’t let a yucky dessert win when the day is done- this has to taste good to me, or its no good.
Nic at Baking Sheet reminded me of Alton Brown’s Moo-less Chocolate Pie, which I’ve been meaning to try first hand. Varients of this chocolate tofu pie have been quite popular on the Food Network lately, and I’ve been getting antsy to try it!
It’s in this spirit that I made my Sugar High Friday dessert- Chocolate Silk Tofu Cream, a crustless version of Alton’s pie.
The resulting dessert is smooth, sweet and creamy. The texture of the chocolate silk is very much like that of truffles! The sweetness is almost too much for me though, which makes me want to try this as a frozen dessert. I think next time I would try this with just the sweetness coming from the chocoalte chips. The Tofu Cream Garnish on top is by itself too beany tasting for me. It pairs well with the chocolate, but isn’t a good taste substitute for whipping cream. Hrmmm? anyone out there have a fake whipped cream recipe that they like and are willing to share?
Chocolate Silk Tofu Cream
In a double boiler over hot water, combine:
- 2 cups of chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup of coffee liquor, or espresso
Stir occassionally until the chocolate is completely melted. Allow to cool slightly.
In a blender, combine:
- one 10oz package of silken style tofu
- 1 Tbs of maple syrup
- 2 Tbs of Blackberry or Raspberry Syrup, the syrup coffee drinks are flavored with
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Add the melted chocolate mixture to the blender and continue to blend until smooth.
Pour into cups and refrigerate.
Tofu Cream Garnish, aka Fake Whipped Cream I, recipe picked up from Veg Web
In a blender combine:
- 3/4 cup of soy milk
- 1/4 +1/8 cup of soy milk powder
Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so that the soy milk powder becomes fully absorbed into the liquid.
After 5 minutes blend and add:
- 1 Tbs maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbs lemon juice
- 2 Tbs of strong coffee
Slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of canola oil while blending.
I ended up not enjoying this fake whipped cream very much. Alot of the recipe’s flavor rides on the powdered soymilk, which in this case was generic. If you are vegan- I think it is worth investigating.
Tofu Cream Garnish, aka Fake Whipped Cream II, recipe picked up from the Silk is Soy webmaster.
In a blender combine:
- 1/4 cup of soy milk
- 1/4 canola oil
- 1 Tbs maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
I enjoyed the flavor of this fake whip much more than version I. If you increase the maple syrup to 3 Tbs, it lends a candy flavor that makes this reminiscent of melted marshmellows. This tastes good, but doesn’t set up like whipped cream does. I wonder what would happen if I put this in charged whipped cream canister?
Slowly drizzle in another 1/4 cup of canola oil while blending.
Spoon the Fake Whipped Cream mixture on top of the chocolate silk cups and refrigerate.
20 Comments
I guess that those berry syrups must be quite sweet! I haven’t yet had good luck with tofu cream and I agree with the beany assessment. I hope someone has some suggestions!
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Thanks again for the metal jog Nic- the chocolate tofu mousse is amazing! Guess what I’m having for lunch?
?McAuliflower
Hey! I can eat this and not get a stomach ache! YES!! (does the happy dairy-free dance?)
Also? Hey! Brain research at UFO, eh? I’ve a friend who does the computer programming for the Psych dept’s brain lab.
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Cool! The Psych Dept has some really neat visual tools for brain imaging. I’ve always wanted to go over there to play Plus, they do interesting cognitive studies on babies.
?McAuliflower
We eat quite a lot of tofu in Malaysia as it’s good for us but this combination is darn interesting. I have never heard of tofu cream before.
Well, for sheer ease ? cool whip is entirely phony ? vegan and a whipped cream sub. I know some vegans who eat it since it has no dairy. The one problem I have with veganism is that often I find vegans eat very processed foods in order to escape the animal products. Personally, I would much rather have some real whipped cream. Yes it has cholesterol, but it doesn’t have partially hydrogenated soybean oil.
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Good point about the processed foods. Also- cool whip does technically contain dairy (SODIUM CASEINATE), another nod to not eat processed foods: if you can’t understand the ingredient listing, well then put it back!
?McAuliflower
This sounds like a dessert I will have to make next time I have my parents over. I love making desserts with tofu in them and letting my mom think it’s not tofu. I know, I’m terrible!
But seriously ? this looks and sounds utterly devine, McAuliflower ? leave it to you, you never disappoint!
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Hee hee, sounds like fun! I do recommend the chocolate silk for playing tofu games on people. The fake whipped cream garnish though isn’t in that fooling-someone category unfortunately.
?McAuliflower
looks absolutely delicious! will try
I wish thoese ingredients were available in my country and Id give it a try!
[...] Another great variation on this scrumptuous mousse: chocolate peanut butter with chocolate covered pretzles, ala Chubby Hubby ice cream.[...]
[...] The tofu mousse in action yet, again. This time with raspberry liquer! [...]
I am a vegan. Does anyone know what I can use in place of heavy cream for dishes. For example: I want to make chocolate mouse or puddings or other stuff in the future. Thanks so much.
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Sorry, there is no really good substitute for cream in the uses you specify. You can play with soy creamer as sold for coffee, and try adding more lechithin to it to create more ?mouth feel’.
The above recipe for this blog entry is a chocolate pudding.
?McAuliflower
Certain beers are suitable for vegans. What makes some types of beer unsuitable for vegans is not the yeast (yeast is vegan!) but the clarification process?Beer is often clarified with isinglass, gelatin or casein. For more information on vegan beers?and which beers are vegan in the US see
http://veganconnection.com/veganbeer.htm
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thanks for the resource Allison!
?McAuliflower
hipwhip is vegan and good tasting
http://www.nowandzen.net/hipwhip.html
Dear McAuliflower,
I am trying to find out how to obtain Calcium sulfate (gypsum) to be used as the coagulant for making soy-bean tofu. I am based in Teluk Intan, Malaysia. Thanking you
senthil
Bless you my child?
I am working on our vegan/vegetarian categories and couldn’t remember for the life of me if Cool Whip was Vegan/Vegetarian or what.. Brain dead moment. I googled and up you popped with the answer.
Glad I could help! Its a sad sign of our times -to not easily identify the ingredients in our foods.
?McAuliflower
Has anyone tried coconut milk for creating ?whipped cream’
I read a restaurant review where they used this topping, and was wondering how to go about trying it.
I just ordered some White chocolate chips from vegan essentials.com I want to do a variation of the Mousse recipe with lemon. Perhaps a bit of toasted coconut in a vegan lemon wafer crust for a nice light and summery mousse pie!
Absolutely wonderful! I just moved from Canada to Argentina and I find great fresh tofu in our little Buenos Aires Chinatown. Unfortunately, there’s no Maple Syrup here, so I used Splenda instead and good dark chocolate. I think the whipped cream (fake or real) is not needed at all. I garnish with fresh berries and a touch of granola.
*Splenda* and good, dark chocolate? What a waste of good, dark chocolate! Why wouldn’t you have used sugar instead of a questionable artificial sweetener?
Mavis- I didn’t use splenda- read the post.
?McAuliflower
Is veganism harmful for health? Anyone knows?
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