Passion-Fruit Tofu Cheesecake
I’m sure a lot of cheesecake lovers would turn up their noses at a tofu cheesecake, and some would even go further and shun tofu as the work of the devil, while others wouldn’t hesitate to denounce me to the cheesecake security council and have me arrested. I’m resisting the pressure, friends, because i believe that.. err.. with great recipes comes great responsibilities (I heard that in Spiderman.. i think).
Even though tofu doesn’t appear too often in this blog let it be known that i’m tofu friendly and after seeing great versions of tofu cheesecake in popular blogs like Kitchen-M and Manggy , and sampling a great one at Morimoto in NYC a few weeks ago, i decided right there on the spot the world needs one more tofu cheesecake recipe: mine. Why mine? err.. I don’t know, just felt like saying that.
Sure it does sound healthy, and you might be tempted to have two slices (or in this case.. cubes) instead of one but you might want to think it again, friends. It contains what i would call a healthy dose of cream cheese as well as tofu. What makes this tofu cheesecake different? Well for one… it’s the softly set fresh passion-fruit juice that goes on top giving it that exotic tang and that cool look. For two, it’s not baked. Which means it’s easy. And surprisingly enough, it’s delicious too.
Now you don’t have to believe me. Unless you try it.
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Passion-Fruit Tofu Cheesecake
- serves 8
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Graham crackers crust:
- 12 Graham crackers, crumbs
- 4 ounces butter, melted
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
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Tofu Cheesecake Recipe:
- 14 ounces silken tofu
- 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temp’
- 2 tablespoons passion-fruit juice
- 1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
- 3/4 cup sugar
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Passion-Fruit Jelly:
- 4 fresh-ripe passion fruits, juiced and some seeds reserved
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered gelatin
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Graham crackers crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350′F. Butter an 8-inches baking dish or ring. If using a ring line the bottom with aluminum foil and place on a baking tray.
- Put the graham crackers crumbs in a bowl, add the sugar, ground ginger and salt and mix with a fork. Add the melted butter and mix it in until combined. Transfer the mixture to the prepared dish and press it down in an even layer. Bake until golden 10 to 15 minutes and let it cool completely.
- Put the silken tofu, the 2 tablespoons of passion fruit juice in a food processor and mix until smooth.
- Put the heavy cream in a small saucepan and heat it until warm to the touch. Add the powdered gelatin and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat.
- Put the softened cream cheese, sugar and salt and vanilla seeds in the bowl of a kitchenaid and beat until fluffy. Fold in the cream and the passion-fruit tofu mixture until incorporated. Pour into the crust and refrigerate until set. At least 6 hours.
- Strain the passion-fruit juice and place in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the powdered gelatin and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat and let it cool. Meanwhile rinse some of the passion-fruit seeds and place on top of the set cheesecake. Pour the passion-fruit mixture on top and let it set in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Tofu Cheesecake:
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April 14th, 2010 at 11:27 pm
You just made me smile for so many reasons. For starters, you were able to put Spiderman, tofu, cheesecake, and no-bake all within the same post. This looks AWESOME! Yes, I do think that the world needs YOUR tofu cheesecake recipe. It’s a good thing you’re giving it.
April 14th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Wow, I don’t care if it has tofu, if it taste as good as it looks, I’m in.
April 14th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
T T T T Tofu! Ahem, actually I love tofu
and since this no bake cheesecake has no raw egg in it. I can eat it (even with the bun in the oven and all)…now if only I could make myself MAKE this…T_T
April 15th, 2010 at 1:35 am
Gorgeous picture! No bake cheesecake can also be made with ricotta and gelatin…
April 15th, 2010 at 1:54 am
thats great!congratulatiuns
April 15th, 2010 at 2:50 am
Okay that’s it – I am calling cheesecake police and asking them to arrest a slice of this for me. Make sure you comply okay? It will be dangerous to resist.
April 15th, 2010 at 3:34 am
They look so so divine
April 15th, 2010 at 5:25 am
Damn, I gotta have one of those square molds (actually I had more than one opportunity to buy it, but I was watching my wallet! What good is just one right??). Anyway, I think the addition of a fruit component is great for the tofu. Passionfruit fits the bill just nicely!
I’m a hundred percent Asian far as I know, so it’s just insane to me that someone wouldn’t like tofu
April 15th, 2010 at 7:06 am
I love tofu and this sounds just great. Love the way the big passionfruit seeds and the tiny vanilla pod seeds go together…
April 15th, 2010 at 11:40 am
i would totally try this. i love new tastes/combo’s in food. nicely done zenman!
April 15th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Gorgeous! Who knew tofu could look so glam?
April 15th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
wow. i’d fly out to NY right now if I thought I’d get to eat this.
but i know better!
April 15th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
I love tofu cheesecake! This sounds delicious and I love that it’s no bake. Now I need to find some passionfruit
April 15th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
I love tofu, but I have to admit… when I first saw the title of your post I was hoping for a dairy-free version. Hmmm… I might have to brave the wrath of the tofu police myself and see if I can come up with something.
Beautiful presentation, as always. You are an inspiration.
April 15th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
I like the idea of a no bake cheesecake, and the complementary tangy nuances of the passion fruit.
April 15th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
You know, I’m really kicking myself in the ass for not looking you up while I was in NY. But then again, I guess you would’ve found my appetite offensive because Zen if you’re going to make amazing food like this then you better bet your ass I’m going to eat it all.
oink oink
April 16th, 2010 at 6:14 am
I have got to try this!
April 16th, 2010 at 10:08 am
TOFU CHEESECAKE!! sacrilegious. What will you come up next, tofu donuts!! =)
April 16th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Oh so lovely and I absolutely adore the scent and flavor of passion fruit. You did great! And congrats on Top 9..whoo hoo!
April 16th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Tofu’s my middle name. Ok I say that but no really! I love it so much! But then i’m oriental so that’s a given. So glad you finally posted this after seeing the food shot on twitter. I wanna eat it, and i wanna make it too!
April 16th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
I would never make anything with tofu unless you said it was good, so guess what I will be making this weekend! Your pics are gorgeous (as always!).
April 18th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
I have passion fruit. I have tofu that I bought recently and been thinking what to make with it. I think I’m going to give this a try. Thanks Zen!
April 21st, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Wowzers!!! Yeah let’s tofunized some ppl
. Looks great but what kind of silken…soft, med firm or extra firm? Thanks as always great recipes.
April 21st, 2010 at 11:30 pm
[...] not giving it the best reputation with fans of a more “classic” cheesecake. The Passionfruit Tofu Cheesecake at Zen Can Cook is a bit different because it still uses a lot of real cream cheese. It’s a [...]
April 21st, 2010 at 11:34 pm
Ferdie — Soft silken tofu works best here. Cheers!
April 26th, 2010 at 8:46 am
I love that tofu cheesecake has become so popular! Yours looks delicious, of course. I may need to throw my own recipe into the ring…I am in the tofu capitol after all!
May 26th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Beautiful! Reminds me of my vegan days when I used silken tofu as a egg and dairy substitute in desserts – now I can see it combines well with dairy and gelatin!
July 4th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I was just looking for something with passionfruit for July 4th and this is going to be perfect. Yum. Can’t wait to try it right now, we are huge cheesecake fans.
-Sylvia
December 5th, 2010 at 4:02 am
Hello from Japan, I was looking for a tofu cheesecake recipe which I thought is supposed to be vegan (tofu instead of dairy). But cream cheese is a dairy unhealthy product. I hope you improve the recipe and make it healthy. Unhealthy ingredients here are butter, cream, cream cheese, sugar. But it looks delicious. Too bad about ingredients….Look forward to healthy recipes. Michael Jackson inspired me to eat and cook healthy only.
January 19th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
try this one –
http://www.therawseed.com/2010/08/rejuvelac-revolution-cheesecake-style.html
or Tofu Cheese Cake
Crust
1 ¼ cups rolled oats
1/3 cup hazelnuts, ground
½ cup whole wheat pastry or barley flour
¼ cup cold-pressed vegetable oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1-2 tablespoons water
Filling
2 packages of silken tofu (10 ounces)
½ tsp sea salt
2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
6-8 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tsp vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
½ rice vinegar
1 Arrowroot dissolved in ¼ cup water
Topping
½ cup fruit-sweetened raspberry jam
2 Tbsp Arrowroot dissolved in ½ cup water
To make crust
Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Grind oats and nuts in a food processor or small electric grinder. Blend ground oats and nuts with flour in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix oil and syrup together. Add wet ingredients to dry mixture, adding 1-2 tablespoons of water if necessary. Press mixture into the bottom of a lightly oiled 8 inch spring form pan or 9 inch pie pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove crust from oven and lower oven temperature to 300 degrees.
January 27th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
Gelatin is also a poor choice for an ingredent. zencancrap
January 28th, 2011 at 5:32 am
anything can be “healthy” as long as you know how to proportion it and control what you eat. just saying. sometimes you just need a little bit of dairy and sugar in your life.
July 29th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I am very impressed by the fact that many people are so into
tofu-based chocolate mousse. But do you know that when using tofu in your
recipes, it takes more effort to whip the protein curd thoroughly. Sometimes,
after blending it for so long, the protein particle size is still uneven (just
imagine throwing ice into your blender, after you crush it, there are big and
small pieces. Similar concept applies to blending tofu). And if you use soymilk
or soy powder in place of tofu, then there is no smooth & creamy texture.
That’s why silken soy puree stands out when compares to tofu, soymilk, and soy
powder because during the manufacturing process, silken soy puree has been
thoroughly homogenized, which means there are no big or small chunks of protein
curd; all are even in size. Also, silken soy puree is smooth & creamy and
has low beany taste (much more less than the regular tofu, soymilk, or soy
powder). If you like to learn more of this product, you can check it out at:
http://silkensoypuree.morinu.com/. It has very detailed information on silken
soy puree.
September 12th, 2011 at 12:56 am
I just made it and my family demanded & inhaled two servings – it was so light & wonderfully harmonized with the dairy and no where near as rich & heavy as a regular cheesecake. A delicious keeper, thank you!!
December 18th, 2011 at 7:39 am
your oriental like a rug or asian?
January 13th, 2012 at 1:44 am
I use a vegan cream cheese substitute in my tofu cheese cake and it turns out beautiful.