We just returned from celebrating my mom’s 80th birthday in the Quebec Laurentians. Just a small gathering of immediate family – you know, 70 or so of us (gotta love those French Canadian, Irish Catholic fusions).
As things would have it, it was a picture perfect weekend for mom – stunning blue skies, brilliant snow filled mountains, and plenty of sugar happy grandchildren running amuck. We were reunited with family we don’t get to see nearly as often as we’d like, and although the time seemed to pass in a flash, as these things often do, it was a pretty wonderful visit.
On to today’s project.
I have to say, this pudding turned out even better than I had hoped (some experiments work – some really don’t).
The texture is remarkably similar to that of a traditional dessert pudding with a smooth, silky quality and a burst of chai flavourings and blueberry bliss in every bite.
Be sure to read the cooking notes below for best results. Enjoy!
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250 grams silken tofu (about 2 cups)
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1 + 1/2 cups blueberries, thawed and drained if using frozen
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2 Tbsp agave
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2 Tbsp palm sugar
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1 Tbsp corn starch
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1 tsp ground cinnamon
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1 tsp orange zest
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1/2 tsp ground cardamon
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1/2 tsp ground clove
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1/2 fresh grated nutmeg (it’s easy to grate and tastes delicious)
Notes:
I have used my own spices to create a chai blend here but if you have a favourite Chai tea, you could substitute 1 heaping tablespoon or so in place of the cinnamon, cardamon, clove and nutmeg. The only difference is that you may taste the grittiness from the ground tea leaves and spice bits. I have tried this version as well and while I love the taste of the spice pieces, the abrasive quality of the bits started to wear on me after a while. If you are not bothered by that textural quality, it’s a very tasty version as well.
If you are working with frozen berries, be sure to thaw and drain them first. If you use them from frozen they will defrost in the pudding and leave a puddle of water.
Begin by draining excess liquid from tofu in a colander (you can use the back of a spoon to help expel liquid).
Place all ingredients together in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Pour into individual serving dishes and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.
Garnish with mint and a couple of blueberries, as desired.
Serves 4.
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very interesting combo, now you have me thinking about a blueberry chai tea mix, something maybe with dried blueberries to make this year for christmas. i made a chai tea mix a couple of years back and it was a big hit.
Thanks Evey!
Hi Courtney – this is one of the first puddings I’ve made from tofu… I love the creative use of tofu which has an otherwise innocuous flavour. In this recipe, it elevates it to another state :)
Thank you so much for dropping by. I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try – it was certainly a hit in our home ;-)
Thanks Vanessa! :)
Thank you Irena and welcome to Inspired Edibles!
Thanks Stephanie – I have fun playing around with chai mixtures – love that kind of earthy goodness.
The colour is fun, isn’t it. The taste is lovely – thank you Magic of Spice!
Thanks so much Anne – the flavours seem to work well here; I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try.
You just never know where life is going to bring you! :) Have a brilliant day Kay.
This looks amazing! I will have to try it. Thank you for sharing it.
I absolutely love tofu pudding – it gives me a hit of protein while also giving me something sweet to snack on :) I’m glad I have a bag full of frozen summer blueberries! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for visiting my blog Kelly! this chai pudding looks amazingly inviting, can’t go wrong with that deep purple color, will def try this soon!:)
This is beautiful and looks oh-so delicious! Very inspiring. Thanks Kelly! =)
Wow, what refreshing fabulous looking dessert, love it:)
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Thanks for this inspired edibles. I am quite happy to see this.
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Happy Birthday, Mom! This pudding looks excellent. I love blueberries and I especially love chai!!
Happy Birthday to your mom! This pudding looks incredible…the color is fantastic! I bet it tastes equally amazing :)
Kelly…what a gorgeous, rich, luscious pudding! I love blueberry but I don’t think I’ve combined it with spices such as cardamom and cloves (which are two of my favorite!). I am so glad you enjoyed a wonderful birthday celebration with your mom and your family! : )
I am starting to get into blueberries.. but never thought about any type of pudding to go along with it. I also love that you added agave into this.
Thanks so much Velva, I appreciate your compliments – have a great evening :)
Tofu indeed (it is undetectable taste/texture wise in this pudding) – thanks for stopping by Kiran! :0)
You know Greek yogurt is very concentrated in protein (also quite expensive compared to other yogurts) but might work with the corn starch thickener… it would definitely be worth trying the experiment! Silken tofu is a soft tofu that is entirely benign in taste (it really just soaks up the surrounding flavours).
the color of the blueberries in the chai pudding just jump out at you…What a beautiful color. No doubt it is delicious!
Cheers.
Velva
that’s one delicious pudding — made with tofu?! I wouldn’t have guessed!!
Happy Belated Birthday to your mom :)
Kelly, this is the most beautiful dessert! The color is amazing and your experiment definitely worked. How wonderful for your mother’s birthday. I’ve not used silken tofu much, it almost seems like a version of using yogurt? but having alot more protein? I’m so interested in trying this one!
Yup, lotttts of folks in my family for sure :) Thanks Julia! I appreciate you stopping by.
It’s a fun colour isn’t it… ah, what we find in nature is unmatched. Have a great afternoon Caroline! :)
Hi Jen, thanks so much for the nice compliment and well wishes. Have a great afternoon!
Thanks Chris – it seemed to be a hit with the other family members :)
Thank you so much Alyssa! Cheers and have a great afternoon.
Thanks so much Charissa – it’s a nice, wholesome option for sure. Welcome to Inspired Edibles and thanks for taking the time to drop by.
Thanks foodjaunts – it’s kind of fun! Hope you’re having a great day.
yay for tofu! (and all the creative ways of disguising it :0)
Nutritionally Thoughtful – what a provocative tag line… I like, I like… ;0 – Thank you ma belle France!
ooh, lavender…. I like the description.
Thanks Kim! xo
Fresh blueberries… lucky you! Not too much fresh stuff going on here but the frozen produce is usually captured at the peak of freshness so it’s the next best thing. Thanks so much for dropping by and welcome to Inspired Edibles!
Merci Yummy!
This is a great ‘sneak’ recipe for sure – there’s no way in heaven (unless you leave out the tofu packaging), that anyone is going to know that there’s tofu in this pudding! :0
Thanks so much Charles – I hope you feature your fruit sorbet – I adore sorbet (even if it doesn’t freeze ;0) no matter, coulis’ are equally yummy and I’d love to see your recipe.
Thanks for dropping by Jeanette – you’re right, it’s creamy but light tasting and full of flavour… I’m glad it worked :)
Ha.ha… I hope you try it sometime – you can always vary the inclusions and spices so that it works for your family, as desired. Hope your day is going well Kristy.
Hi Amy!! So nice to see you here… I’m coming over to visit! xo
Thank you Amy – I’m quite smitten with them too! Hope you’re having a great day!
Thanks so much Sissi – the creaminess surprised me (though I’m entirely sure why), I guess I didn’t expect it to turn out so much like a conventional pudding… I hope you try it sometime :)
Me too! so yummy in smoothies… thanks Mis Pensamientos :0)
Hee.Hee, I love it! You know, I found these precious dishes at a Japanese gift store … they were having a boxing day (week) sale and I couldn’t resist… so many pretty things in there. Thanks Sally :)
Oh, that’s great! Thank you for sharing that over the shoulder story ;0 – let me know how it goes over with the family if you give it a try. Cheers Lisa!
Thank you Mandy – it’s full of flavour too! Hope you’re having a great day :)
Thanks Greg – You know what they say, the nicest colours are found in nature.
Thank so much Claire – I was happy with how it turned out. The corn starch does a great job of jelling the fruit with the soy protein.
Thank you Leaf – it turned out pretty well and tastes appealing but somehow different from the usual.
Thanks Sara! It was a great weekend :0)
Wow, that’s a lot of people for your mom’s birthday, how fun! The pudding looks and sounds awesome!
Look at the color of that pudding…stunning!! Happy birthday to your mom–hope you all had a nice time celebrating. :)
The color is just gorgeous! Makes for for a beautiful presentation. And Happy Birthday to your mom!! Glad you had such lovely celebration.
So pretty Kelly! And it sounds scrumptious!
This is stunning and such a great and unusual combination of flavors
This looks fantastic…a healthy dessert with such a great pop of colour! Love it!
That looks amazing! I love the color
This looks delicious! I love that you used blueberries! I’m starting to become a huge fan of tofu!
Looks delicious. Would love for you to share your pictures with us over at foodepix.com.
What a beautiful looking dessert Kelly. Your recipes are so refreshing. Always healthy, nutritionally thoughtful. Lovely.
–That deep lavender is one of ther most Beautiful colors…
My Gosh, how I’d love to be at one of your family gathering.
Happy Birthday to your mom :))) x
My Inner Chick http://myinnerchick.com
Oh wow, this looks and sounds so yummy! I just bought a huge carton of fresh blueberries yesterday at Costco and I have a feeling I know what I’ll be doing with some of them. Thanks for the great recipe. Is there a particular brand of tofu you would recommend for this?
I love the color! So great!
I just saw another recipe using silken tofu (I think at Ann’s Cooking Healthy for Me) and I thought I could sneak it in on the hubster. I LOVE chai and have plenty of frozen blueberries. WIll give this a go!
Happy Birthday Kelly’s mom :) ^_^
Kelly, I love the look of the pudding. It reminds me a lot… looks so similar… to a fruit sorbet I made for my parents-in-law when I was in Sweden. The colour and appearance was almost the same (I couldn’t get it to freeze properly, even putting it out into a giant pile of snow or leaving it standing outside at -15 didn’t want to freeze it… weird, right?? – anyway, it was more of a “coulis” in the end) and so I really wanting to try this right now as a result. Blueberries and delicate spice flavours… yummy! :)
This pudding looks so light and luscious, yet so healthy. Happy Birthday to your mom – so glad you were able to spend some time with your family.
I’m so glad you had a great time Kelly! I was thinking of you guys. :) This looks like a dish that all four of us would enjoy – the blueberry fanatics we have become in the past year. :)
Hi Kelly, What a very pretty purple this makes! It looks delicious. Glad you had a nice family get together. What a special occasion for your mom!
This looks so good! I especially love your serving dish and spoon set…so pretty! Glad you had a nice visit with fam. Sounds like a lot of fun :)
Kelly, this dessert looks gorgeous! Reading the recipe I would say it’s a pastry cream with tofu instead of milk. Excellent idea! I must remember it next time I crave a creamy sweet treat. When I was a child I used to have a smilar pudding served hot as a sweet treat. I remember I loved it, especially the “skin” forming on the top :-)
i love using silken tofu in smoothies! i used to make tofu smoothies as my post-workout snack! love the touch of blueberries, cardamom, and cinnamon. yummY!
Thanks Eva – yes, you could certainly make ice cream if you wish but if you intend to eat it as pudding, you will end up with large puddles of water which is not very palatable. It was more likely the banana that you found sweet in your recipe ;0 – it has a high glycemic load and for that reason is a popular sweetener in various recipes. Cheers!
Great colour, Kelly. I bet if you used the frozen blueberries it would freeze the tofu and become ‘ice cream’ I did that last summer with blueberries and banana’s to make ‘ice cream’ without cream and it was wonderful! http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/banana-blueberry-ice-cream/ I found the blueberries are sweet enough, did you add agave because it was for the kids?
Ok, I want the pudding, but I want it in that bowl, with that spoon, with the resting plate, and I am NOT, I repeat, I am NOT giving them back to you…. I promise to love them with all my heart forever and ever!
Kelly, my husband was looking over my shoulder as I was reading your post. He’s drooling over my should onto the key boards, not a pretty site! I have almost of of the ingredients except for the tofu, can’t wait to try your recipe and never tried blueberreis and cardamon together, will let you know what the hubby and kids think when I make this! :)
Happy Birthday to your Mom! Your pudding looks incredible – so vibrant!
:-) Mandy
I love how colorful that is. Looks delicious.
This is GORGEOUS. and I bet equally as delicious!
I do very much like the look of this. A very pretty purple colour. Delicious sounding flavours, too!
Wow! Thant’s incredible Maureen… thanks for sharing… I am one of 10 children (number 9!). Cousins everywhere indeed ;0 – Have a great day and thanks so much for dropping by.
This is so beautiful!
I come from a large French Canadian family and I remember family get togethers when I was a kid. Both my parents were the youngest of 13 kids. Cousins everywhere!
That looks really good! Happy Birthday to your mom and have a great week!