Hello friends! First off I feel the need to apologize for not being as “on it” with commenting on your blogs as I usually am. I’m still reading (believe me!) but I’ve been super busy this past week with my freelance side job, and I’m trying to be responsible (since, you know, I get paid for that).
So now that I got that off my chest, I wanted to show you my kitchen adventure from this evening. This year, I have volunteered to contribute the dessert for Thanksgiving. I’m planning on making the apple crisp that I made a few weeks ago, but I wanted to make a second dessert for my dad since he doesn’t like apple pie/crisp (well…I think he does like it he just thinks he doesn’t. He said the same thing about fro yo until I made him try some and he goes, hmm this is pretty good. Oh, fathers).
Two years ago, Mitch’s mom made a chocolate fudge pie for Thankgiving and it was good, but I like to be a little different, of course (and the thought of making a custard is kinda scary). I looked around and found Alton Brown’s recipe for “Moo-Less Chocolate Pie” and since it was so highly rated, I thought I’d give it a try. My plan is to not tell anyone it has tofu in it until they try it (Mom/Dave, if you read this before Thanksgiving, don’t tell Dad!). Well, Mitch knows it has tofu so he better keep quiet. He eats turkey and stuffing for dessert so he wouldn’t eat the pie either way.
I knew I needed to test the recipe out to make sure it really didn’t taste “healthy” or “tofu-y” like the reviews claimed. My dad doesn’t like coffee so I subbed Amaretto for the coffee liquor but other than that I followed the recipe exactly. When I put all the ingredients together for the photo, I started getting a little scared:
Side note: that jar of honey came from my boss’s brother’s farm, or something like that. It’s a delicious buckwheat honey that’s taken me a long time to go through, but I’m getting there!
Instead of a chocolate crust, I decided to make a graham cracker crust. It was super easy! I followed these instructions except I used 6 tablespoons of butter since that’s what Joy of Cooking said and I trust that bible. Since I used low-fat graham crackers, I felt it was ok to add an extra tablespoon of butter.
Oh wait, that’s not how it works? Hmmm…
This smelled SO good while baking. And the crumbs I samples tasted great (this is why I rarely bake!) I love graham cracker crusts. I have been known to eat the crust and leave the filling behind on a cheesecake.
My crust definitely has the “rustic” look…it’ll be interesting to see how it holds up when slicing the pie tomorrow (I’m using my coworkers as guinea pigs). And the edges got a bit too brown so I think next time I’ll bake it for 8 or 9 minutes, not 12.
Here’s what the pie looked like after the filling was blended and added. I should add that we have a pretty cheap blender, so even though I pureed the heck out of it, I think it still looks clumpy. That scares me a little because if people taste chunks of tofu, my secret will be out. I wonder if using the food processor would work better?
I had a tiny taste of the filling tonight, and the booze taste was pretty strong. Maybe I added too much? That’s not a bad thing per se, but not what I was going for so I’m hoping that once it’s chilled, the flavors will meld and be magical. Of course, the real test will be when people try it tomorrow.
I’m nervous! Which is so silly because worse comes to worse, I can bake a cake/brownies from a mix, or make Jello chocolate pudding and use that as the pie filling instead. But for some reason, as I think I’ve mentioned before, baking (or in this case, no-baking) gives me anxiety even though I enjoy it and people so far always like what I create. I think I get freaked out because I don’t like wasting time or money or food.
I guess I just don’t like waste!
Do you think I’m crazy for trying to feed my dad and Mitch’s family a tofu pie?
If you’re celebrating Thanksgiving next week, are you doing any of the cooking? Normally, Mitch’s mom kicks me out of the kitchen, but this year I basically insisted I be in charge of dessert (after 3+ years I can do that…right?). That’s the part I care the most about, if truth be told!
Night 
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i certainly don’t think you’re crazy – my family expects “healthy cooking” from me now….
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I think that looks delicious! You can never go wrong with Alton Brown recipes, the man is a Food God
I recall seeing a similar chocolate tofu mousse before and they also swore you couldn’t taste the tofu. PLUS, it’s a dessert with a little added protein 
Let us know how your dad likes it!
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I LOVE Alton Brown!! This recipe sounds awesome. I think you shouldn’t tell the family that it’s tofu. From my own experiences, if I tell anyone what something is, they automatically assume they won’t like it, then when they take a bite they are biased in their opinion about the food. Give it to them and just say it’s a chocolate mousse pie, then see their reaction, THEN tell them what it is after they are done!
I will be making some side dishes next week. Not sure what yet, but something amazing!
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I think it’s a great way to introduce new foods to your family. Plus, it’s an Alton Brown recipe so it shouldn’t be that “weird” to them.
My fiance and I are doing a little T-giving dinner for ourselves. I sort of need to get on that menu planning thing, I guess.
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Not crazy at all! I think it sounds great! I would give the food processor a whirl for sure… I prefer it to my blender any day.
And I love amaretto. Disoronno is like my god.
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It’s not like you are trying to serve them plain tofu that you think they won’t like. You are blending into chocolate! I am a little hesitant to eat tofu, and I think blended into chocolate and amaretto would be a great way to try it for the first time.
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I would love to try that recipe, but I’m not one who likes liquor…I wonder if I can omit it.
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Hallie Reply:
November 18th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Anne Marie: The original recipe called for coffee liquor so plenty of reviewers subbed plain coffee or espresso and they said it worked great. I think the alcohol taste might be a little strong for my liking, but I figure a little more booze won’t hurt anyone, it is a holiday after all!
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Thanks, Hallie!!
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That looks delicious. I think I would just eat the crust and be fine, but the chocolately goodness makes it even better.
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The crust looks awesome, I’m sure the pie will be delicous! I want to hear how it comes out. Did you ever think of using chocolate tofu?
I don’t know if you remember the rum ball incident of 2004, but I am quite familiar with the world of over-boozed desserts. Like you said, just makes the holidays more festive!!
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