Chocolate Tofu Bombs

A few months ago, Mark Bittman posted a recipe for chocolate pudding made with tofu on his blog. You need to suspend disbelief and try this -- it's really quite delicious. Your friends won't know they're eating tofu unless you tell them, and since it uses no cream you won't need to do as much penance at the gym the next day.

I like tofu a lot, more than chocolate, so was keen to try the recipe. Plus, Travis was coming for dinner and he's lactose intolerant, so the experiment was afoot. The chocolate-ness and consistency are great in the Bittman recipe, but it's too sweet for my taste. A few adjustments later, I've settled on proportions to my taste; the recipe follows. Travis has made this for friends, and I've used it as filling for tarts and pastries. Yesterday I made profiteroles, or as I call them, chocolate tofu bombs, for some friends.


1/2 cup water (or you could substitute coffee)
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. or so of bittersweet chocolate. (The recipe calls for 8 oz, but Scharffen Berger is sold in 9.5 oz blocks. Close enough.)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pound silken tofu. (The brand of silken tofu that Whole Foods carries weighs a few ounces short of a pound. Close enough.)

Heat the water and completely dissolve the sugar in it. Then, melt the chocolate in it. Mix this in the food processor with the tofu and vanilla.

At this point, you can just go ahead and chill the pudding, or you can tinker with the flavoring. A bit of cinnamon and cayenne as Bittman suggests are quite good, though I use less spice than he does. I've also zested orange rind into the pudding, which is especially good when it's used as a layer in a tart or torte. Or, you can whisk it to get some air incorporated for a more mousse-like texture.

I used an almost plain version (no flavorings except vanilla and just a light touch of cinnamon) to make profiteroles, though if there had been any coffee made, would have used that instead of water. For the pastry shell, make a pate choux, which is an egg dough that is commonly used for eclairs. It's really simple and quick to whip up:

6 TBSP butter
1 cup water
a pinch of salt
2 tsp sugar
1 cup flour
4 eggs

Bring the butter, water, salt and sugar to simmer, then turn off the heat. Stir in the flour all at once and keep stirring until it clumps into a ball, about a minute. Let this cool for a few minutes. Stir in the eggs one at a time, mixing until each one is fully incorporated. Cool the dough in the refrigerator for half an hour (or up to a day if you like).

Line a pan with parchment or silpat. Then, drop little teaspoons of dough, about the size of a grape, onto the sheets. I forgot how much this dough puffs up, so last night used mounds of dough about the size of a ping-pong ball cut in half. The resulting pastries were about the size of a plum, so two or three bites. That's okay, but it can be a bit squishy to bite into once filled. The littler ones are single-bite size. Whatever size you like is fine, though.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Then, at the end of 20 minutes, turn off the heat in the oven and crack the door ajar a few inches. After 5 minutes, you can take the pastries out of the oven. The transition keeps them from collapsing.

You can fill the pastry by poking a little hole in the side, then piping the chocolate-tofu in with a pastry bag. Or, you can split it in half, fill like an oreo (or an eclair), and put the tops back on. Dust with powdered sugar if you like.