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Chocolate & Raspberries...
a heavenly combination
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| Six servings |
| I have long made my much-loved
Chocolate-Orange Dream Mousse,
but developed this variation for a cooking class at the
Biltmore Estate Winery celebrity
chef cooking series in the summer of 2003. I did this after learning that
fresh raspberries would be available from the Estate's gardens. I am so glad
I did --- and you will be, too. Don't even bother telling the tofuphobics
in
your life what is in this creamy, smooth, utterly satisfying
mousse, intensely chocolate and sparked with the Valentine of ripe red
raspberries. Just serve it, and smile modestly as the
compliments roll in. |
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Tofu?
In a mousse?
With chocolate?
I
know, I know, you're thinking, what a perfectly good waste of chocolate. But
you are wrong. This simple and luscious recipe will prove it to you.
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| Made in a trice, it never garners anything less
than raves and is a perfect finish for a romantic dinner. PLUS:
It's vegan (if you use a natural-foods store brand dairy-free chocolate,
which will be labeled as such; there are
several brands to choose from), and very low-fat in comparison to
standard-issue mousse. |
| In short: a truly wow dessert, which has changed the minds of many tofu
skeptics. |
| Chocolate's used in three forms here: as cocoa,
and as melted unsweetened, and
semi-sweet. And raspberries show up as two: as the soft red fresh fruit
itself, sensual and seductive, and as raspberry liqueur in the mousse. |
| Ingredients: |
| 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, cut up |
| 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, cut up |
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2 tablespoons raw (untoasted) cashew butter* |
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2 10.5 ounce packages silken tofu, firm or extra-firm
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| 2/3 cup sugar, preferably an organic/
less-refined sugar such as
Rapadura,
Sucanat
or
turbinado, available in
natural foods supermarkets |
| 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa |
| 2 to 3 tablespoons Chambord (raspberry liqueur) |
| 1 to 2 pints fresh red raspberries |
| Directions: |
 1.
Prepare the mousse. Melt cut-up chocolates over hot water. As
chocolate melts, place
cashew butter in the processor. Add the silken tofu and sugar, and buzz
smooth, stopping to scrape sides. Add melted chocolate, unsweetened cocoa,
and Chambord. Buzz again, processing until all is very smooth. Scrape down
sides a few times as necessary. |
| 2.
Divide mousse among your prettiest individual parfait dishes (preferably
glass, and footed). Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to two days
in advance. Just before serving, top with fresh raspberries. |
Important ingredient notes:
* Don't substitute the more full-flavored nutty roasted cashew butter for the raw called for. Its mild buttery note is rich and
non-assertive, non-cashew-y. You won't taste it as such, you'll only
experience the voluptuousness it imparts. This richness allows the chocolate and
raspberry flavors to shine without
distraction.
* * Also, use the specific variety of tofu called for. Only
"silken" will give you the dreamy, creamy texture wanted here, not conventional water-packed tofu.
The shaggy texture of the latter is suited to stir-fries and the like, not
spreads, mousses, and dishes where smoothness is required. The kind of tofu
you want here is always labeled "silken." If it's not so labeled, don't get
it for this.
The most widely available brand of silken tofu in
America is Mori-nu, and it's sold ascetically packaged, un-refrigerated.
(Sometimes supermarkets mistakenly refrigerate it, however, it doesn't need
to be, though other types of tofu do).
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