Saturday, March 24, 2007

Fancy-Pants Almond-Mocha Tofu Cheesecake

In one word: impressive. If this still isn't fancy-pants enough for you, try making an almond-graham crust by substituting almond meal for 1/2 c of the graham cracker crumbs in the original graham cracker crust recipe, then decorate the cheesecake with sliced almonds.

1 block firm tofu (not silken)
2/3 c sugar
1/2 c oil (canola or safflower is good)
1/3 c strongly brewed coffee
1 t vanilla
1/3 t almond extract
pinch salt
1 c dark chocolate chips

Press as much water out of the tofu as you can by squeezing it relentlessly between your hands or pressing under something heavy. Blend everything but the chocolate until creamy and smooth (this may be easier in two smaller batches). Melt chocolate on the stove, being careful not to let it burn. Stir chocolate into tofu mixture, combining thoroughly. Pour into a graham cracker crust. Bake at 300F for 55 minutes.

1 comment:

Aquila said...

Update: This is now an award-winning, blue-ribbon fancy-pants almond-mocha tofu cheesecake.

I made it with the extra-fancy almond meal crust for one of the Geography department's bake-offs (this one was a chocolate theme, a very good idea). I made sure not to mention that it was tofu, just in case anyone was biased against tofu and all things good, yummy, and healthy. Also, I decorated it carefully with almond slices, because I've noticed that the judges are greatly swayed by appearance.

It won first place! Woo! I have tricked the whole department into enjoying tofu! Victory is mine!