Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Let me start out by saying this is more of mousse than a pudding (and sorry for the mediocore photograph), but it's also quite versatile. The first time I was introduced to a similar creation was the summer after my freshman year of college. My friends from back home and I were making a vegan chocolate pie for our vegan friend's birthday.

Our pie filling version of this recipe included silken tofu, melted carob chips and all natural peanut butter, which was blended together and then chilled in some sort of vegan pie crust. Now I must say, the pie didn't end up working so well. We tried to cut slices and they didn't quite cut- instead we pretty much had to use a spoon to transfer the "slices" (more like blobs) from the pan to our plates. But, quite fortuitously, another friend had made some un-frosted vegan chocolate cupcakes so she started using the pie filling as a frosting- and that worked out rather well.

So, long story short this could be a pudding, a pie filling, a mousse, a frosting, and maybe even chocolate whipped cream. It could also be chocolate peanut butter, Mexican chocolate a la Mark Bittman, or just plain old everyday chocolate as I've shown below. So experiment already!

Oh, and let me also add, for all of you who may be a bit skeptical of TOFU pudding. You cannot taste the tofu at all, especially if you use light silken. And if you're still worried about tasting it just add more chocolate, because that never hurt anyone.

Chocolate Tofu Pudding
Note: the better/higher the quality the chocolate you use here, the better the final product will taste. I think I should have splurged on something above Ghiradelli.

Ingredients
1 block (12 oz) silken tofu [I used Mori-nu Silken Lite Firm Tofu]
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips [I used Ghiradelli 60%]
1/8- 1/4 cup milk of choice, depending on desired thickness [I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk]
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoons agave nectar (or other sweetener)*

Preparation
Combine chocolate chips and milk of choice in a double boiler stirring occasionally. Once the milk and chocolate chips have melted into a uniform mixture, add them into a blender or Cuisinart with the tofu, vanilla and agave. Blend until smooth. Add more agave and/or melted chocolate to taste. Pour pudding into a container and refrigerate until cold. Enjoy!

* I don't mind bitterness, especially in chocolate, but the average person will likely want this a little (or a lot) more sweeter.