Dark Chocolate Amaretto Pie
I don’t make a lot of pie. I grew up in a cake house, you see. My mom always preferred baking cakes and cookies to pies, and my sister and I expanded on this behavior as 4-H cake decorating students for several years each. Pie, which has taken on a role of symbolic role of domestic culinary prowess in our culture, was simply not something I learned to make as a kid.
The pies my mom did make were never, ever, double-crusted fruit pies. If we did have a pie for dessert, it was typically composed of a pre-made graham cracker crust, a box of pudding mix, and a mound of Cool Whip.
And you know what? I freakin’ loved it.
To this day, while I will certainly eat a slice of apple, cherry, or other fruity pie if it’s presented to me with a sizable scoop of vanilla ice cream, the pies that I dream of are the cold, creamy, pudding-ish pies that I grew up on.
This pie follows in that tradition, though with some notable modifications. First, I love making my own graham cracker crusts. I like a heavier crumb with more crunch, and I like that I can control the level of sweetness and stickiness by adding as much or as little sugar and butter as I like when whirling it together myself.
A food processor makes this a very simple task, but I made my own crusts for years with a gallon-size ziploc bag and a rolling pin, so don’t feel that a food processor is required to make a delightful crust.
The biggest shock value of this pie is that its bulk comes not from cream, nor milk, nor eggs. It’s tofu. Combined with a bag of semisweet chocolate chips and a bit of amaretto, it provides a blank canvas with a delightfully smooth texture.
My favorite, favorite aspect of this pie is the prep. It’s a cinch! The crust bakes for a bit, and you’ll have to melt the chocolate, but beyond that there is no cooking required. No lengthy bake in the oven, no day-long cooling. After a couple hours in the fridge to firm it up, this pie is ready for serving.
My advice? Let your friends and family taste this rich delight of a dessert, and then tell them it’s made of tofu. They won’t believe you!
Dark Chocolate Amaretto Pie
Adapted from Alton Brown
Note: The original recipe calls for coffee liqueur rather than amaretto. I prefer amaretto, but you could really try any liqueur you like that pairs nicely with chocolate.
6 oz graham crackers
1 T granulated sugar
5 T unsalted butter, melted
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
scant 1/3 c amaretto liqueur
2 tsp vanilla extract
14 oz package silken (or soft) tofu, drained
1 T honey
Preheat oven to 350°F. Use a food processor or a plastic bag and rolling pin to reduce graham crackers into crumbs. Add granulated sugar and melted butter to crumbs and pulse a few more times until combined. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate and bake for 15 minutes.
While the crust bakes, wash the food processor bowl and blade so they can be used for the filling. Remove the crust form the oven, set aside, and allow to cool completely.
Combine chocolate chips, amaretto, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan. Heat over medium low and stir with a rubber spatula just until chips have melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
Cut the tofu into chunks and add them to the food processor bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and the honey to the food processor bowl. Spin until mixture is smooth, then pour it into the cooled crust. Refrigerate for at least two hours or until the filling sets firm.
Serve cold in thin slices – it’s quite rich!
Ed
March 15, 2015 @ 5:01 pm
Using tofu seems so odd at first, but it looks wonderful. I’ll definitely try this.