Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

Happy Pi Day!  Tomorrow, being March 14, or 3.14 is the celebration of the mathematical constant Pi.  But tomorrow is even special-er than special in Pi day celebrations, because tomorrow’s date is 3.14.15 and the first five digits of the mathematical representation of pi is 3.1415.  Such a day as this only comes about once every 100 years! (more about Pi Day)

And to celebrate the wonderfulness of this day, I am sharing with you a most wonderous dessert.  This pie is rich, decadent and of course, super easy to make.  If you love cherries and chocolate, you may melt when you try this, seriously.  If there was no one around to see, I might have eaten it all by myself straight out of the dish and not regretted it for even a minute.

If you’ve never used tofu in pie before, don’t let it scare you, you won’t taste it at all, I promise.  It blends right in and provides an extra creamy goodness and makes it a little bit healthy, right?! Enjoy!!

Chocolate Cherry Mousse Pie

• Pre-made chocolate crumb crust, or you can make your own. (I used Wholly Wholesome’s chocolate pie crust)
• 12 oz firm silken tofu (I used mori-nu)
• 8 oz vegan cream cheese (I used tofutti)
• 3 tablespoons sugar + 4 tablespoons
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups cherries (Fresh or frozen is good, or jarred but just make sure they’re not in heavy syrup. I used jarred Morello cherries in a light syrup)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. In a food processor or blender, puree the tofu until completely smooth.
3. Add the vegan cream cheese, 3 tablespoons sugar, cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, melted chocolate and vanilla and blend all the ingredients together until they are smooth and creamy.
4. Pour filling into the pie crust and bake for 20-25 minutes or until it jiggles lightly in the center (like jello)
5. Let cool completely and then chill for a minimum of 2 hours.
6. To make the topping: Combine the cherries, 4 tablespoons sugar (if you are using cherries in light syrup, only use 2 tablespoons sugar), 1/2 cup water and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Combine the 2 tablespoons water and 2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixing until smooth to make a slurry.  Slowly add the slurry to the cherries, stirring constantly.  It will get thick very fast.  Bring to a boil for 30 seconds and then take off the heat.  Let cool and chill until ready to use.
8. Right before serving, top the pie with the cherries and dig in :).
9. Can be stored for 4 days in the refrigerator.