Chocolate Silk Pie July 21
In a bit of a twist this week, the recipe I’ve made came from Good Eats, Alton Brown’s TV show, instead of a cookbook.
In every episode of Good Eats, AB picks an ingredient or a cooking method and explains and investigates it in depth. He will cover great recipes and great techniques, even including which gadgets to use and why. He will also include lots of historical and scientific information related to the topic at hand. All this is done with a sense of fun in an entertaining production that takes food television why beyond the average cooking show. I’m a big fan. If the show is aired in your area, check it out.
Some time ago, I caught an episode about Tofu where Alton Brown made a chocolate tofu pie. I was led to believe that this episode would rerun this week, but it did not and thus I was unable to refresh my memory of the show. Fortunately, Traditional chocolate pies often contain lots of cream and several eggs. They taste great, but waistband-friendly, they are not. It’s a very simple pie that is much healthier than your typical chocolate pie because tofu takes the place of cream and eggs.
My only complaint with the recipe is that it calls for “a block” of silken tofu. I have several blocks of tofu in my fridge which varied in size from 6-14 ounces. I used a 12 ounce block. I had to scrape down my food processor several times while making the filling because nothing would look worse than a chunk of pale white in a slice of dense cholate pie.
Perhaps I should have titled this post “How to trick your friends into eating tofu” because my tasters (and coworkers) loved this pie. It was dense. It was creamy. It was chocolatey. It was great! I though detected a subtle soy taste, but that could have been my imagination as no one else appeared to notice anything. I did use a store bought chocolate graham cracker crust for this recipe rather than making one. I think a graham cracker crust provides a nice textural contrast for the filling as well as adding sweetness to the dish.
I prefer to call this Chocolate Silk Pie, versus the original title of Moo-less Chocolate Pie, both because it describes the pie to the people you serve it to and because it’s a cute reference to the silken tofu in the filling.
AB’s Chocolate Silk Pie
12 oz silken tofu
2 cups chocolate chips
1/3 cup coffee liquor (chocolate and orange would work well, too)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp honey
1 graham cracker crust (chocolate, if available)
Place tofu and honey into a blender or food processor.
Melt chocolate chips and coffee liquor together until smooth in a double boiler. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour over tofu and whizz/blend the mixture until completely smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.
Pour into a pie crust and chill until firm, at least 2 hours.
Serves 10.
Amy Jul 21
Looks wonderful! I make key lime pie the same way and serve it to people who hate tofu–they still don’t know my secret.
Nic Jul 21
Oh, that sounds great, Amy. I loved the texture, so I will definately give it a try as a key lime pie!
Clare Eats Jul 21
Yum!
I make a pie like this for my vegan friend! It is so good and decadant. It had toasted nuts in the crust which were great too!
McAuliflower Jul 21
I keep on meaning to by silken tofu for this (I’m a firm fan)…
make sure to check out the Good Eats Fan Page. They carry every transcript of every GE show! They’re great to refer to as the foodtv recipes often vary from the tv show recipe.
Nic Jul 21
Clare - Yum! Toasted nut crust!
McAuliflower - Thanks for the tip. They have a lot of info up there!
Helen (AugustusGloop) Jul 21
Yum! How intriguing to use tofu. I love tofu but only “Asian-style” after a few unfortunately encounters with tofu custard, yoghurt and chocolate mousse.
Thanks for sharing. I just could be tempted to try this one out! =)
FoodNinja Jul 22
I Love this Pie.. every pot luck at work I bring it, with a giant lable that says “Mooless Chocolate Pie” The tofu fearing eat it up.
Mika Jul 22
Nic, you are tempting me to try it. After a tofu chocolate cake that turned out very bad, I am quite suspicious of tofu in desserts. But your picture and review make me wanna try it. I have also heard of chocolate tofu mousse (did bittersweet by Medrich have it?) that tastes great.
Nic Jul 22
Templar - Does anyone even question what the name refers to? I guess not, since they are probably just thinking “Chocolate!!”
AG and Mika - I have also had bad experiences with baked goods that have included tofu. I may actually try experimenting a bit to see if I can get a good recipe, but the ones I’ve had have been downright awful. I had a tofu mousse that used egg whites that tasted pretty good, but a totally vegan blueberry one I had recently was basically inedible. I don’t have bittersweet, but I’ll flip through it next time I’m at the bookstore to see if there’s a good mousse recipe in it.
Cathy Jul 22
Tofu is one of those things I want to like, but we just haven’t hit it off yet. My problem is its texture, so I don’t mind it when it’s blended in with other ingredients. This pie looks amazing and to my mind is the perfect way to eat tofu!!
Niki Jul 23
I’ve been intrigued by using tofu in ‘cheesecakes’ and things for a while, after seeing quite a few recipes for them. I’m still interested, especially after seeing this!!!
Samantha Jul 23
I love that recipe, and with a package of shelf-stable silken tofu in the pantry, dessert is practically moments away.
And Amy’s idea for a key lime pie is such a good idea.
Kelli Jul 24
I would love to try this. I’m really interested in ways of making dessert lower in fat and a bit more healthy — although I would never tell my guests the truth until after they tried it
Nic Jul 24
Kelli - If I put something unusual in my dessest, I often try not to mention it. Some people will even decide they didn’t like it after eating and enjoying it if they find out something they didn’t like was in it (*ahem* my brother *ahem*).
Chin Ru Aug 1
i agree that Good Eats is a fantastic programme. i have a block of silken tofu sitting in my fridge. i am TOTALLY going to try this out. i have vegetarian friends so this will be perfect! can i use Digestive biscuits as the base instead of Choc graham crackers? (don’t think i can find chocolate graham crackers in Singapore)
And being able to say you made Chocolate cake with tofu sounds oh so ‘new age’ and ’semi healthy’ doesn’t it?
Nic Aug 2
Chin - I know digestif biscuits would work out just as well as the choco grahams. And while I’m sure this isn’t exactly healthy, it is certainly more healthy than most dense chocolate desserts. Pass me another slice!
Derchll Aug 20
Hi Nic! I just tried the chocolate silk pie but unfortunately mine doesn’t seem to set! I made it yesterday and left it in the fridge overnight to firm up but it’s still in a mousse state. I followed the recipe but did increase the tofu to 600g. Could that be the cause of it not firming up? But other than that, it tastes great!
Long Cart Dec 6
I have some great ideas
Nevermind. Next time.
Rhia Jun 5
Ok - so this was originally posted a year ago. I found this first here and then on the site for AB. THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!! I am absolutely making this again.
Anonymous Sep 18
I made this last night and it was delicious.
Thanks for sharing.
-Priya
black4cherry Oct 11
I want to make this, but i dont have any coffee or chocolate or orange liquor handy, (well no liquor handy whatsoever), do you have any idea what to substitute it with? thanksss
Rebecca Bourke Jun 20
It sounds so good, indulgence without the calories
I don’t suppose you have the nutritional values per serving, do you?
Bryan Roberts Nov 11
Apart from the fact that honey isn’t vegan, I will definitely be trying this some time soon (after the cheesecake!). I will sub. the honey for agave, maple or rice syrup though.
Fitchick Apr 6
So this sounds really good and I’m looking forward to trying it! However, as Bryan Roberts stated, vegans do not eat honey. I will substitute with agave syrup.