As my Cakes Instructor at culinary school used to say, the #1 rule of cake decorating is: Decorate to Hide Mistakes. This isn’t a cake, but it was definitely a failure at what it was supposed to be, and then quite a success as what it became; it’s all about how you present it.
My original plan was to make Banana Cream Pie. I’d been thinking about it for awhile, and so started my search for a vegan version the usual way: google. It turns out there aren’t many recipes out there in the great web world for vegan banana cream pie. Very sad indeed, and I was determined to expand the field.
I looked over the other recipes – some called for agar agar (not a simple, lazy ingredient and so therefore definitely not for me), lecithin (who has that in their pantry??), or soaking dates (too time consuming). My simple lazy requirements can be quite demanding!
I decided to start as I start every vegan cream pie I make: 12oz Silken Tofu, in a food processor. And then from there, I picked and chose from the recipes I saw, until I had the flavor I wanted. What I didn’t take into consideration as much as I should have, and probably the reason why the other recipes were slightly more time consuming, is how the pie would set up/get firm/be sliceable. My pie was pudding in a pie shell, even after I had it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Not good for the pie world, but great for the pudding lovers.
The flavors are very intense – the banana really stands out, and I think next time I might use less, because it was almost at the point of overpowering. Next time I will also reduce the amount of sugar, it was super sweet, so many I’d only use 1/4 cup white sugar and 2 tbl brown sugar.
So, enjoy the pudding recipe. And if you have any *simple lazy* ideas of how to make the filling firm, I’d love to hear them!
Banana Pudding
- 12 oz extra firm silken tofu (I always use Mori-Nu)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 tbl brown sugar
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed or cut into smallish chunks
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbl vegan margarine, melted and cooled
- 2 tbl almond milk
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- pinch salt
- In a food processor, puree the tofu until it is completely smooth.
- Add the white sugar and brown sugar and blend 1 minute.
- Add the bananas and puree until smooth. You may need to stop the processor and scrape down the sides a few times.
- Add the vanilla extract, vegan margarine, almond milk, lemon juice and salt and pulse until combined.
- The pudding can be served immediately, or refrigerated for up to 3-4 days. I served it with a dollop of TruWhip on top and a sliced banana.
