IMBB #19 Part 2: “I Can’t Believe I Ate Vegan Brownies! Uhm, I mean… Almost-Flourless Chocolate Cake!”

It’s funny what these foodie events will do. My kids have been waiting for these brownies for a long time. As some of you know, my kids suffer from various allergies, eggs and dairy included. They’ve been clamoring for brownies and I promised I’d make them some but I just haven’t had the time to sit down and find/figure out a recipe, though I bought the tofu that I meant to use for it a couple of weeks ago. Well, since I did the eggplant post today for IMBB, I thought I may as well do the brownies. After scrounging around on the Internet and in my pantry, I came up with this recipe that’s actually a mix of what I found online and what I know has worked in my favorite brownie recipes. But, in my haste, it turned into something else:

Vegan Brownies Almost-Flourless Chocolate Cake

cooking spray
cocoa powder for coating baking pan
1 19-oz package silken tofu (I used one manufactured by House, no GMOs)
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
a handful of vegan chocolate or carob chips
a handful of raisins if you like (I decided against it at the last minute — though I LOVE raisin-and-chocolate combinations — because I wasn’t sure my raisins were unsulphured)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by spraying with oil and sprinkling with cocoa powder. Shake off excess cocoa and set aside. Puree the tofu, flour and salt in the food processor until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and heat for a few minutes, until just beginning to steam but still cool enough to touch with a finger without burning yourself:). Remove from heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Pour into prepared pan, spreading evenly. At this point, you could swirl in soy cream cheese if you want. I would have, except that the soy cream cheese we bought 2 weeks ago had died on me. At least 9-yo Paco had enjoyed more than half of it on his bread for several days. Both recipes I found called for vanilla extract, but since I was out and forgot it again on my last trip to the store, I left it out. I did keep on tasting the batter while I was mixing it to see if it needed adjusting. I like mine on the not-too-sweet side, so you can do as one of the recipes suggests and use a couple of cups of sugar (yikes) instead.

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let cool for 1 hour, the pan set over a rack, and slice into 16 squares. Sooo yummy!

Epilogue:

These were supposed to be brownies! I meant to add 1 cup more flour, but forgot. I had tasted the batter and the thickness looked okay to me, so the cup of flour was left on the counter, and I saw it after the “brownies” had been baking in the oven for a while. The texture came out very similar to my fragile Boca Negra instead, though not as smooth. My kids said it reminded them of sticky toffee pudding. I’ll try this again sometime with the additional flour and see if my 6-year-old likes that better. It wasn’t the roaring success I was anticipating, but it wasn’t bad at all. At least I’ve proven to myself that tofu can be used successfully in my family’s favorite desserts. I bet it will taste even better after an overnight stay in the ref.

Tagged with: IMBB # 19 + Vegan