First Blog of 2011: Avocado-Chocolate Tofu Mousse Cake

Hey everyone! Happy new year :) I know it's a little bit late considering it's already February now, oh well.. I haven't been updating my blog for a long time and haven't been baking either, surprising huh? Even I surprised myself :p It's not that I lose interest in baking, I believe I never will, but I'm just sooo tired lately with no reason. Well, maybe it's because my thesis due date is approaching so I have to stop procrastinating and start squeezing my brain. Also, as a part of my new year's resolution, I decided to become a weekday vegetarian. Meaning I only eat meat, chicken, and seafood on Saturdays and I try to avoid eggs and dairy too. So, you see, there aren't many desserts that contain no eggs and dairy. It makes it more difficult to bake something good without compromising my resolution. But last weekend, I found a very interesting recipe from an old Chinese baking book and it was Mango Tofu Cheesecake. It was basically a no-bake cheesecake with pureed mangoes and tofu. I modified the recipe by using avocados instead of mangoes, omitting cream cheese, and change the ratios a bit. As a result, Avocado-Chocolate Tofu Mousse Cake! You won't be able to tell that there's tofu in the cake, the tofu was just there to create the smooth texture that you usually get from cream cheese. The mousse was very smooth and the combination of avocado and chocolate was just perfect (for you non-believers out there, try it then you'll see what I mean). The graham cracker crust added a little bit of crunch and created a perfect texture contrast with the soft mousse. One downside of this cake is that it still contains dairy products and probably some eggs (from the graham cracker). I still can't figure out a way of making a delicious vegan dessert, maybe I'll try again next time. Anw, here are the pics and recipe, I hope you like it as much as I do :)

AVOCADO-CHOCOLATE TOFU MOUSSE CAKE

Yield: 6 small rings + 1 medium ring

GRAHAM CRUST

160 g graham cracker, pulverized

40 g melted butter

80 g melted chocolate

1. Mix all ingredients together.

2. Press onto the bottom of the mold and chill in the fridge/ freezer.

MOUSSE

350 g firm silken tofu (mori-nu)

3 medium ripe avocadoes

2 tsp lemon juice

400 g (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1.5 packets of gelatin

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

1. Puree the tofu until smooth, set aside.

2. Puree avocadoes + lemon juice until smooth and add the sweetened condensed milk.

3. Sprinkle gelatin on 2 Tbsp cold water, let sit until it blooms. Melt in microwave.

4. Heat tofu puree in microwave until warm and mix in melted gelatin.

5. Mix avocado puree and tofu-gelatin mixture. Let cool to room temperature.
6. Fold in whipped cream into the tofu mixture. Set aside.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1:1 chocolate:heavy cream

1. Heat cream in microwave and add chocolate.

2. Mix and set aside.

ASSEMBLY

1. Pour mousse on top of graham cracker crust until half full and chill until set.

2. Spread a thin layer of chocolate ganache on top of mousse and chill until set.

3. Fill mold with mousse and chill in freezer until firm.

4. Decorate with chocolate sauce, chocolate crunchies and piroulline.