Tag Archives: pudding

Easy Chocolate Pudding Parfait

chocolate pudding parfait
chocolate pudding parfait

It is fun to reimagine recipes I’ve made in the past. Often this is spurred on by scrounging around in my cupboard and discovering an ingredient that needs to be used up. In this case it was an aseptic box of tofu that was hovering near to its expiration date.

Tofu for dessert often ends up in the blender to become vegan mousse or pudding. You can make a pie or tart shell to hold this blended mixture, but I was feeling lazy. However, by layering it with cookies or cake and other sweet bits you create an easy and elegant parfait.

Over the years of making tofu pudding I have discovered a few tips to ensure smooth success. I added these steps to my recipe so you have the perfect parfait for a warm summer evening.

Chocolate Pudding Parfait based on Chocolate Mousse Pie with Cookie Crust and Raspberry Coulis

chocolate pudding
1 cup vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup unsweetened nondairy milk, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or substitute coffee extract for a deeper chocolate taste)
12 oz silken tofu, drained (soft or firm, the choice will affect the texture), at room temperature
parfait add-ins
6-12 chocolate cookies, depending on size
3-18 vegan marshmallows, depending on size

For the chocolate pudding: To melt the chocolate chips in the double boiler method, place them in a glass or metal bowl. (Note: The bowl should be large enough so that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water in the pot you set it over.) Set this bowl over a pot filled with 1/2 cup of simmering water. Heat the pot over low-medium heat on the stove, stirring the chips occasionally until they are melted.

Once the chips are melted, take the bowl off of the pot and allow the chocolate to cool slightly. (Note: Do not allow it to cool enough so that it re-solidifies. You want it somewhat cool so it’s closer in temperature to the other ingredients).

Place the nondairy milk, extract, and tofu into a blender. Process until smooth. Scrape down the sides and add the melted and cooled chocolate. Process the mixture until completely smooth.

To assemble the parfaits: Crumble the cookies and cut up the marshmallows if they are large. Add some cookie crumbles to the bottom of a dessert glass. Next, add a few spoonfuls of pudding then a few bits of marshmallow. Continue layering the ingredients until the glass is almost full. End with crumbles and marshmallow bits. Add fresh fruit, chocolate shavings, and nondairy whipped cream if you’re feeling fancy.

Until next time, happy non-baking!

Superfood Earth Day Pudding

Earth Day pudding

Earth Day pudding

Earth Day is a fun day – not only do you get to honor the earth, but you can do so with whimsy. I combined cute ideas from a few blogs to come up with my celebration dessert. It wasn’t baked but it was filled with superfoods (cacao and hemp are superfoods) so I honored myself as well.

Because the already vegan dessert wasn’t baked it had no required changes. The alterations I made were to add baking extracts and more cacao to deepen the pudding flavor. Also, the pudding recipe called for cocoa powder but I used raw cacao powder instead to up the nutritional value. I grabbed ideas from a few websites to make my version of a dessert worthy of Earth Day.

Superfood Earth Day Pudding adapted from lovemefeedme.net and godairyfree.org
For the pudding:
1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 ripe medium banana
4-5 TBS maple syrup, to taste
1/2 tsp coffee extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup + 2 TBS Navitas Naturals raw cacao powder
2 TBS arrowroot
For the dirt topping:
2 TBS Navitas Naturals raw hulled hemp seeds
1 TBS Navitas Naturals raw cacao powder
1 TBS Navitas Naturals sweet cacao nibs
Put almond milk, banana, maple syrup, extracts, and cocoa powder in a blender and blend until smooth. Put 1/4 cup of the mixture aside and pour the remainder into a small pot. Heat over medium heat until it begins to boil. Whisk arrowroot into mixture you set aside. Slowly pour this mixture into the pot on the stove and whisk it in. Reduce heat to low and continue to stir for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into 3 or 4 small containers. Let cool for 15 minutes before placing in fridge to cool completely.
While the pudding cools, mix topping ingredients together. Once pudding has cooled, top with a generous sprinkle of dirt topping. You can add an herb sprig or edible flower to your creation. Note: If using a flower pot with a drainage hole in the bottom, line it with foil prior to adding the pudding.

Until next time, happy non-baking!