A Healthy Dark Chocolate Mousse Recipe?

By now all of us are aware of the health benefits of dark chocolate. Even those who don’t know their blueberries from their beetroot have cottoned on to this happy health message (ditto the glass of red wine a day one).

Here is an unbelievable pudding that stretches the health benefit to include calcium-rich and phyto-oestrogen filled tofu. Yep, you read right, tofu. Whether you are cutting down on dairy, avoiding uncooked eggs, watching your fat intake or just love chocolate, you – and whoever you decide to share this with – will be delighted with the results.

A few notes before you get down to making this: do add the tablespoon of alcohol or vanilla extract as it helps the final result (even if you don’t taste it); use Green & Blacks solid chocolate and cocoa powder, or the equivalent; chill at least one hour (over night is fine too). The texture is ever so slightly grainy but other than that it is a dead-ringer for the cream-laden version.

• 1 x 300g package silken tofu, drained if needed (find with the health foods or with dried vegetables in most supermarkets)
• 100g Green & Black’s 72% Cook’s Chocolate, broken up
• 30g unsweetened Green & Black’s cocoa powder
• 60ml water
• 1 Tbsp brandy, rum or liqueur (e.g Drambuie, Cointreau, hazelnut) OR good quality vanilla extract (not essence)
• 80-100g unrefined caster sugar OR favourite low-cal sweetener (measure to your taste)

Puree the drained silken tofu in a blender or food processor until smooth, scraping down the sides.

Put the remaining ingredients in a double boiler saucepan or heat-proof bowl fitted over a saucepan containing 2 cm of simmering water. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. Pour the melted mixture into the blender/food processor and whiz until smooth, again scraping down the sides. Spoon the ‘mousse’ evenly into five ramekins or teacups; cover and refrigerate at least one hour. Shave a bit of chocolate over each if you are feeling extra decadent. Cherry compote spooned on top is also nice.