The Food Matters Project: Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream

Boy, do I miss ice cream as we start to get into the summer months. Sure, there are some decent frozen yogurt and sorbet flavors (my favorite is black raspberry chocolate chip) and it can feel nearly as decadent, but most ice cream shops have a limited froyo selection. There’s just something about strolling on a warm summer evening with a cone of ice cream.

In the header for Mark Bittman’s Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream recipe, he says, “If you think vegan ice cream is too extreme, stick to real ice cream, but be aware that silken tofu produces a surprisingly creamy and delicious alternative.” I was intrigued from the get-go.

Turns out he was right. I made a few modifications to my batch, but found it incredibly rich. I found myself digging into it straight from the freezer with a spoon, and it was like cold fudge.

This also goes great with Strawberry Cabernet Sorbet, another take on a Food Matters Cookbook recipe (I used strawberries in place of raspberries). Together, they make sort of a neopolitan swirl minus that pesky vanilla.

I made a few modifications to this recipe: I didn’t have bittersweet chocolate, so I used dark chocolate and cut the amount of sugar down to 1/4 cup. I also just omitted the vanilla extract entirely.

Check out other Food Matters Project takes on it here.

Chocolate Tofu Ice Cream, from The Food Matters Cookbook

3/4 cup sugar
1 lb soft silken tofu
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Put the sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool a bit.

Put all of the ingredients (including the sugar syrup) in a blender and puree until it is smooth, scraping down the sides when necessary. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the instructions, or transfer the mixture to an airtight container and freeze until it’s firm, at least 4 hours. When it’s ready to eat, break it into chunks and puree it or just let it thaw a bit until it’s scoopable.

The Food Matters Project: Reverse Fondue

Leave it to Mark Bittman to take something as decadent as fondue and make a version that feels more reasonable without losing any of that great bread-in-hot-cheese goodness. And leave it to me to discover in the middle of the recipe that we had eaten right through our cheese reserves in the fridge (I have a thing for Cabot’s Seriously Sharp, okay?!) and I only had four ounces left while the recipe called for eight.

I made the recipe for my book club meeting, so of course 15 minutes before I was supposed to be there I was shoving veggies into the oven to roast (because why would I make these things easy on myself by cooking in advance?) and panicking on the discovery of the last of the cheese.

I ended up making up the difference with a bit of shredded parmesan and 3 tablespoons of silken tofu. With a good sprinkling of salt and pepper, the strong flavors of the cheese held up. I grabbed the pot and the platters of veggies and bread I’d roasted and brought it the two blocks over to my friend’s house where the book club meeting was being hosted to finish it on her stove, since it really needs to be poured right away after the cheese melts.

I’m not sure if it was the lesser amount of cheese, the tofu or if I just didn’t keep it cooking long enough, but my sauce never quite turned creamy. And the downside of this dish is that plain white sauce doesn’t look as appetizing poured over food as it does in a beautiful fondue dish, especially when it’s a bit on the thinner side. It still tasted good and cheesy, but didn’t exactly look as lovely as a traditional fondue spread.

 

The other thing about making this for something like a book group is that it’s invariably going to sit on the table for awhile as people pick at food and chat. Bread that’s sitting in cheese sauce for awhile tends to get this weird combination of stale and dense, so for this setting perhaps a dippable version with the lower-guilt sauce like what Aura did would be better.

Either way, I’m always happy to try out recipes that involve bread, roasted veggies and cheese. Make sure to check out what the rest of the Food Matters Project members did and find the original recipe at Lexi’s blog.