Ode to The Minimalist: Mexican Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Mark Bittman has left his post as The Minimalist at the NY Times where for over a decade he deconstructed and simplified cooking and baking for the Everycook. My two favourite recipes that he introduced to my repertoire are Jim Lahey's No-Knead bread and his cheese and herb scone recipe from How to Cook Everything (I made this one at least three times a week throughout the fall until Christmas took over and my backyard rosemary plant succumbed to the frost).

He recently re-posted a video from 2 years ago featuring his recipe for mexican chocolate tofu pudding. I was intrigued, so I made it for my sister's birthday this weekend in lieu of cake. This one's a keeper. It was spicy and chocolaty and smooth like pudding - except the texture came from the soft tofu and not heavy cream. I doubled the recipe and kept the leftovers in the fridge overnight, which meant that by the morning it had set and was rather like a mousse. I may prefer it that way, actually.

Birthday Tofu Pudding

Mark Bittman makes pudding

Jim Lahey's no-knead bread