Mocha Vegan-Mousse Pie

I was gonna do a re-run of my Orange You Glad They're Double-Chocolate Cookies for my mom this weekend as well but then decided to hold off and save those for a cookout instead on Sunday (that way my sibs could try them as well). So instead, I decided to whip up a vegan-mousse pie.

Mishaps ensued when I realized that my Mori-Nu tofu had an expiration date of 04/08/2006, so I ran it back up to the market to exchange it. The woman only had expired tofu but told me that Mori-Nu is so very vacuum-sealed that it lasts months and months after its expiration date. I was doubtful at first and explained to her that I'd prefer not to kill my mom on her mother's day celebration and/or give her food-poisoning, but the woman just looked at me and said, "Do you think I'd tell you to eat it if I thought it would make you sick, seeing as I *want* you coming back as a customer?" The logic made sense. Plus, she gave me the tofu for a $1. So I took it. I am a cheap whore.

Anyways, we lived through the weekend, you will be happy to know.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cube of Mori-Nu firm silken tofu
1 1/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. brewed coffee
1 T. maple syrup
1 graham cracker crust*

Throw the tofu into a food processer and blend. Melt your chocolate chips whatever way you see fit (I just do it in a pot on the stove--you don't need double-boilers and all that as long as you continuously stir and keep your eye on it), and brew your coffee. Throw the melted chocolate, coffee, and maple syrup into the food processer and pulse until fully mixed. The mixture will seem soupy at first, but it stiffens up in the fridge. Toss the tofu mixture into your pie crust and refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.

My mom a) hates tofu and b) loves chocolate mousse, and she ate two slices of this and remarked that you'd never guess it was tofu. So high-marks on the faking-it front.

I was pleased with the taste as well, seeing as I wolfed all of the left-over pie down in just two days.

VERDICT: A for filling; C for crust

Oh yeah, and I decorated it with toasted almonds, in case you were wondering what the hell was going on. Perty perty.

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*I used the graham cracker crust from The Garden of Vegan, but it was disastrously mushy, despite the fact that I used the low-range of liquid ingredients listed in the recipe--I ended up having to add more and more graham crackers and it STILL never solidified quite the way it should've been. Your best bet is just grinding up a couple cups of graham crackers and then gradually adding a bit of margarine or oil to it until it's *JUST* damp enough to stick together. I also recommend adding a bit of almond extract to the mixture for a bit of flare.