Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Tofu as dessert is not an alien concept for me, after all, I do grow up eating tons of dou hua (soy bean pudding). But I admit that I have never thought of taking this experience up a notch until I found out about chocolate tofu pudding! Believe me, nobody would guess that this lovely dessert is made out of silken tofu. So if you are counting calories, or want a healthy dessert once in a while, make this. You can serve this chocolate tofu pudding to tofu haters and they won’t even know what hit them ;)

What goes into chocolate tofu pudding?

For a super basic pudding, you will need:

• 150 gram (about ¹⁄₂ block) silken tofu
• 5 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, so not the stuff to make a hot chocolate drink
• 1 cup milk (cow milk, soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, e.t.c.)
• 5 tablespoon sugar
• 5 gram (1 ²⁄₃ teaspoon) gelatin
• 2 tablespoon water

If you are preparing these puddings for special occasions, you may want to add these:

• 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
• freshly grated zest from 1 orange, or ¹⁄₂ teaspoon orange oil
• 1 tablespoon orange liqueur, such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier

How to make chocolate tofu pudding?

Here is the step-by-step guide:

1. Bloom gelatin. Pour water in a microwave-proof bowl, then sprinkle gelatin to bloom. Set aside.
2. Mix espresso with milk. If you are adding instant espresso powder, heat the milk in a microwave-proof bowl, then stir in instant espresso powder until the powder dissolves. Set aside. By the way, espresso makes the chocolate pudding even more chocolatey.
3. Puree tofu. Place silken tofu, cocoa powder, and sugar in a food processor. Puree until smooth, then transfer to a mixing bowl.
4. Add liquid. Add milk, orange oil/orange zest (if using), and orange liqueur (if using) to the chocolate and tofu mixture. Whisk together everything.
5. Add gelatin. Microwave the bloomed gelatin from step 1 for 2-3 seconds to dissolve. Then, stir this into the chocolate tofu mixture.
6. Let the pudding set. Pour the pudding mixture into your favorite molds and let them firm up in the fridge. It usually takes about 1 hour. Serve chill.

Chocolate tofu pudding decoration ideas

If you serve these puddings out from pretty looking molds, they look quite neat even when plain. But these can easily be dressed-up and modified for those special occasions.

• Berry delight chocolate pudding. A simple whip cream, chocolate shavings, and fresh berries.
• Christmas chocolate pudding. Whip cream, chocolate bark, crushed peppermint candies, and fresh mint leaves. Skip orange zest and orange liqueur, add 1 teaspoon peppermint oil instead to the pudding.
• Black forest chocolate pudding. Whip cream, chocolate shavings, and fresh cherries. Use 1 tablespoon of Kirsch instead of orange liqueur and orange zest.
• Smores chocolate pudding. Topped the pudding with crushed graham crackers, roughly chopped chocolate bars, and mini marshmallows.

Those are just my four easy ideas to play around with this basic recipe. Feel free to tinker with the recipe and come up with your own novel ways to make this chocolate tofu pudding.