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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Cherry-Chocolate Mousse Pie

Cherry-Chocolate Mousse PieE had a wonderful birthday yesterday and appreciated all of your comments. She spent the afternoon playing with her new basketball goal, the present that she asked for and got early because it took D and me two weekends to put it together. After eating the dinner she requested (Mac and Cheese), she opened her other presents and ate a slice of her birthday pie.

Why pie? Well, I guess we're just non-traditional like that. E will have a cake at her official birthday party, but just for the family, I wanted something simple and easy to throw together on a week night. I really hadn't planned to post the recipe here, but after so many people wrote to ask about it, here goes:

The basic pie, which definitely fits into the Ridiculously Easy category, is impossible to mess up; I've thrown everything from almonds to oranges to peanut butter in it, and it always comes out delicious. It's a variation on the chocolate mousse that every vegan knows, the first vegan dessert that many of us learned, the one that's printed on the back of your Card Carrying Vegan Card. (Just kidding--I think it's the wacky cake recipe on the card.) This time, I had some dried cherries that I wanted to use, and I have to say, I think I like this variation best of all. It reminded me, in a good way, of the chocolate cordial cherries my parents used to buy every Christmas.

Warning: This recipe is nowhere close to fat-free. Though I've heard of people making a lower-fat version by using cocoa powder instead of chocolate chips, I've never been brave enough to try. My philosophy is that certain occasions, such as your only child's birthday, call for real chocolate chips.

Cherry-Chocolate Mousse Pie

Cherry-Chocolate Mousse Pie
(printer-friendly version)

1/2 cup dried cherries
1 12-ounce box light silken tofu (or extra-firm silken tofu)
2 tablespoons agave nectar (more if you want it sweeter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 prepared Graham cracker crust

Cover the dried cherries with 1/2 cup of boiling water and soak them until soft. Drain (and reserve) the water, and put the cherries into the food processor. Pulse to chop. Drain the tofu and add it to the food processor along with the agave nectar and vanilla. Process until smooth.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Pour it into the food processor and puree, scraping down the sides as needed to make sure it's well blended. Pour into a prepared crust and chill for several hours.

Makes 8 servings. Each slice contains 341 Calories (kcal); 16g Total Fat; (39% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 49g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 155mg Sodium; 3g Fiber. Weight Watchers: 8 Flex Points.

(See, I told you it wasn't fat-free!)

If you'd like to make it without the crust, here's the info for a crustless version: 231 Calories (kcal); 11g Total Fat; (38% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 35g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 40mg Sodium; 3g Fiber. Weight Watchers: 5 Flex Points.

Serving Suggestion: Take the reserved cherry-soaking water, add some sugar, and simmer it on the stove until it's reduced to a syrup. Drizzle over pie just before serving. (Here's a sneaky photographer's secret: I added some grenadine to the cherry syrup to brighten the color.)

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23 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That pie looks absolutely delicious - am glad its not low-fat. I think its sinful to eat anything low-fat on your birthday!!
Happy Birthday to E!!! Sorry a bit belated. Thats such a lovely picture of her you have up from yesterday - she's beautiful! Sending her lots of good wishes for her health and happiness always.

Julia

3:55 PM, April 16, 2008  
Anonymous LaTara said...

YUMMO! Happy Birthday E!

4:04 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger Animal-Friendly said...

I hope E had a great birthday! Though I'm sure she did with that pie! It looks soooooooooooo good. I think it's a great idea to used dried cherries- they tend to have a more cherry-ish flavor than frozen (at least in my opinion). I'll definitely be keeping it in mind come time for mother's day......

4:56 PM, April 16, 2008  
Anonymous Ricki said...

Well, E certainly deserves the best (and full-fat) version on her birthday--Belated Happy Birthday! And boy, does that pie look scrumptious!

5:23 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger Holler said...

Wow, that looks so indulgent, I just have to make it! I love the cherry syrup oozing down the side! I am very, very impresees and I am going to steal the recipe for a charity bake off next week :)

6:22 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger VeggieGirl said...

PERFECT pie for a birthday girl :0)

6:36 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger Courtney said...

The photos of that pie look amazing! You are quite the photographer AND cook--yum! Happy birthday to your daughter!

Courtney

6:52 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger merathon said...

my husband is not a huge fan of fruit, but LOVES peanut butter. could you tell me how to adapt this recipe using the PB? thanks! looks delicious! (i've never made a chocolate mousse pie and i'm a vegan! am i disqualified???) :)

8:47 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger SusanV said...

Merathon, the easy way is to substitute 1/2 cup peanut butter for the cherries. Add agave nectar (or sugar) to taste. Another way is to make a layer at the bottom of the pie using a mixture of peanut butter and confectioners sugar. Then pour chocolate filling over that. My basic recipe is at this link. You can experiment with it in any number of ways.

9:50 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger Candice said...

Happy Birthday E! Your birthday pie looks really good. :)

10:45 PM, April 16, 2008  
Blogger Jill said...

It's important not to have a fat free b-day! This looks grand, and while not fat free, it's not unhealthy or overly fatty at all! YUM

1:41 AM, April 17, 2008  
Blogger Solitary Dancer said...

Low fat and birthdays just don't go together. :-) Glad you made it fat and full of flavor.

It sounds wonderful. I thought it would be hard but I think even I can do this. YUMMY.

Just in time for my weekly shopping. Guess what I'm adding to the list. LOL

4:07 AM, April 17, 2008  
Anonymous jj said...

This looks great -- extra calories and all! Sometimes you do just have to indulge!

7:37 AM, April 17, 2008  
Blogger Calimaryn said...

Yup, thats the recipe on the back of my Vegan Card. *nods* I think I learned that recipe as my first ever tofu recipe. Soo good but I never thought to add dried fruit or nuts! Yummy and brilliant. I now must deface my card to add this idea to the recipe. muahaha

8:50 AM, April 17, 2008  
Anonymous Lucy said...

Your pie looks delish!! Susan, I've seen many varations of this recipe and the one I have uses the same amount of chocolate chip but TWO boxes of silken tofu to make two pies. That would probably "stretch" the fat content a bit and calories too. I've made that version before and it does not compromise the flavor. BTW, for some reason the chocolate filling REALLY thickens up overnight. Thanks for your version though!!

11:23 AM, April 17, 2008  
Anonymous Marianne said...

This is what my son also requests for his birthday, and really, the only pie he will eat. I have always made it with 1/4 - 1/3 cup of Khalua though (like Alton Brown does); will have to try it without, and with some of your additions. Thanks!

1:07 PM, April 17, 2008  
Blogger Gaia said...

Oh Susan, Susan, Susan... and E!
I can always count on you to make me hungry!

Hope you had a WONDERFUL birthday E!
Mine is next week and I told my boys I wanted a pie :)

4:49 PM, April 17, 2008  
Blogger Elaine said...

Hi Susan,

Congratulations on your blog! I was delighted with what I saw here. I am Brazilian and not speak or write in English. But with the help of the translator Google, I decided to leave this message to you.

I am a vegetarian and I have a foodblog [www.cantinhovegetariano.com.br]. The reason of my contact is whether you allow me publish some of their income and their pictures on my blog. Certainly I mention the source giving it the proper credit.

Once again ... Congratulations on Fatfree Vegan Kitchen! A hug!

11:44 PM, April 17, 2008  
Blogger funwithyourfood said...

Delicious and simple- my favorite type of recipe

teddy

12:02 AM, April 18, 2008  
Blogger NeuroticFitchMom said...

Happy late birthday to the little miss thang! This looks divine.

1:19 PM, April 19, 2008  
Blogger Cerulean Bill said...

Anyone who offers Mac and Chiz and that kind of pie is my kind of person!

9:25 PM, April 19, 2008  
Blogger toontz said...

I just loooove chocolate and cherries together.
This pie looks fabulous. And who cares about low-fat on birthdays, anyway?! Growing up we always had pies for our birthday. When my daughter had her birthday party (11 girls)she requested pie. I was worried about that a little, so I made cupcakes, too, in case some of the girls didn’t like pie. Not one of her friends wanted cupcakes, isn’t that something? They were the party kind, too. Pink frosting with sprinkles. They each got some when they went out the door, anyway—I really didn’t want 24 cupcakes hanging around. lol.

7:03 PM, April 20, 2008  
OpenID skinartia said...

I made this last night (no special occasion; just because) and it was so delicious! I opted to use strawberries instead of cherries because they were on sale at the grocery store. I also sliced a few strawberries to top the whole thing with. I wasn't sure if you meant "chill" by putting in the fridge or freezer but I put it in the freezer and it was amazing and reminded me a bit of ice cream cake. Yum! :D

9:46 AM, May 06, 2008  

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