Chocolate and Mint Tofu Mousse

It's been a weekend of birthday celebrations. The first was a small dinner party and I offered to make dessert. One of the guests is gluten intolerant so I thought about making Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake or her Lemon Polenta Cake. Unfortunately, I didn't have any ground almonds at home so I rushed out in the rain and would you believe that they were all sold out? I went to 3 supermarkets in the end, 1 large tesco extra and 2 smaller express stores but no luck. On to plan B then. Time was ticking and I suddenly remembered my chocolate tofu mousse which is gluten free and dairy free. I decided to jazz it up for the party by serving it in wine glasses and making it minty as chocolate and mint is one of the birthday girl's favourite combinations.

These were so quick and easy to put together and tasted really good. My gluten intolerant friend was very impressed and no one could guess that there was tofu in it. The mint flavour was definitely there and you can just about taste the bananas. The decoration was simple yet effective. 

I'm sending this to Dead Easy Desserts hosted by Sarah from Maison Cupcake. Total assembly and washing up time was less than 30 minutes. 

I'm also sending this to Calendar Cakes hosted by Laura from Laura Loves Cakes and Rachel from Dolly Bakes. The theme this month is puddings and I'd definitely class this as a chocolate pudding.

And to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the idea is to make everything from scratch.

 bananas, honey, cocoa powder, mint extract, vanilla paste, soft tofu 

 I bought this chocolate grater from Italy and wanted to try it out. It worked perfectly! 

 I decided to present them in wine and shot glasses as it looks more elegant 

 decorate with fresh berries and grated chocolate 

Makes 6 portions as shown 

2 boxes soft tofu

2 bananas

9 tablespoons honey (or to taste) 

6 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 tablespoons mint extract

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 

To decorate
Fresh berries - I used raspberries and blueberries
Grated chocolate

• Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
• Spoon into glasses or ramekins and chill for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
• Just before serving, decorate with fresh berries and grated chocolate. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Tofu Mousse

Anna who blogs at Crunch Creamy Sweet has set up a new challenge called the blue ribbon challenge. The idea is simple - each month she sets a theme and everyone makes the same thing with their own twist and posts on the same day.  Readers will then be allowed to vote until the next day for their favourite and the winner gets awarded a blue ribbon badge.

This month the theme is mousse and the first thing I thought about was peanut butter mousse. At the last minute, I decided to make it slightly healthier and to give it more of a twist by using tofu. My first attempt at making tofu chocolate mousse was delicious. I added peanut butter then as a trial and unsurprisingly it was my favourite. So I present to you a sophisticated version of peanut butter chocolate tofu mousse served 2 ways. First in little chocolate cups and secondly as a layered dessert with crushed oreo cookies. These are really quick and easy to make and would be perfect when hosting guests.  It's also much healthier than a normal mousse so you can feel virtuous eating one or two of these :)  The texture of the mousse is soft and silky. Tofu on its own is tasteless so you can really taste the chocolate peanut butter. It pairs really well with even more chocolate or oreo cookie crumbs. Which of the 2 is your favourite?

PS If you like my recipe, please vote for me here. Thanks :)

 honey, chocolate peanut butter, dark chocolate, tofu

 I found this at Whole Foods - my favourite peanut butter blended with dark chocolate (my favourite type of chocolate!) 

 Make the chocolate cups by melting a few squares of dark chocolate and placing a thin, even layer in a silicone mini cupcake case and allow to set. 

 option 1 

 The texture is firm enough to hold its shape but still silky smooth and delicious. 

 Crushed oreos

  add the mousse on top

 then some chocolate shavings

 option 2

1 box soft, silky tofu

2 heaped tablespoons chocolate peanut butter (or plain peanut butter but make sure you use the smooth type)

Honey (optional if you prefer a sweeter dessert)

For the chocolate cups - few squares of dark chocolate

For the layered dessert - few oreo cookies, crushed.

In a food processor, blitz the tofu, chocolate peanut butter and honey (if using) until smooth and silky.

Make the chocolate cups by melting the dark chocolate and then coating a mini cupcake case. 

Allow to set in the fridge. You may need 2 or 3 layers depending on the thickness you require. 

Remove the chocolate cups from the cases.

Fill with tofu mousse.

Shave some chocolate on top as decoration. 

To make the layered dessert, place some crushed oreos on the bottom then add the mousse on top and finish with some chocolate shavings.

Chill the desserts for a few hours before serving for best results. 

Tofu Chocolate mousse

I'm sure you read the title and thought tofu and chocolate? Really? Yes really. I saw this recipe on tinned tomatoes and immediately bookmarked it. I've seen a few different variations on blogs and the internet but I prefer this recipe as it has bananas and there's no need to melt chocolate. It's really quick and easy to make and tastes great too!  Not quite what I expected in a good way. The tofu gives it the soft, silky texture without adding much flavour. It tastes predominantly of the banana and chocolate. 

It's also much healthier, gluten-free and dairy free so win win. 

Naturally, I had to add my own little twist to it. 3 guesses as to what I added.... well the picture gives it away but yes I added peanut butter!

It made the texture firmer and tasted absolutely AMAZING!! You get the rich, smooth, creamy taste of peanut butter with the banana and chocolate flavour. Plus I'm sure a little peanut butter is healthy for you :)  I am definitely making this again and again. I've been thinking of other flavours I can add in - perhaps a little espresso powder or malt powder (horlicks/ovaltine) Feel free to add your suggestions or thoughts if you've made something similar. 

I'm sending this to Javelin Warrior's Made with love Mondays where the motto is "Always fresh. Always from scratch" 

 And also to bookmarked recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes

 only 3 ingredients required (4 if you include the peanut butter!) I bought the tofu from a Chinese grocery store in Chinatown, London. 

 Left - peanut butter, Right - 'natural' 

 I don't know if you can see the difference in the textures. Either way they were both tasty but I definitely preferred the peanut butter one. 

Recipe adapted from tinned tomatoes

1 box soft tofu

2 bananas

3 heaped teaspoons cocoa powder

optional: splash of honey as I prefer my desserts on the sweet side

             1 tablespoon of smooth peanut butter 

• Whizz all the ingredients in a food processor.
• Divide into ramekin dishes.
• Chill for a few hours before serving. 
• Serve with a dusting of cocoa powder or chocolate shavings.