Chocolate Moo-Less Mini Tart

According to the American Gastroenterological Association, approximately 50 million American adults are lactose intolerant. Even more surprising to me is that about 90% of Asian American adults are lactose intolerant.

For all my great luck, I was not lucky enough to be born within that 10% of the Asian American population who can drink a full glass of milk without having to down a whole bottle of tums because of stomach pangs.

All I can think is, "Why me?"

But then again, it could be worse.

I am able to manage about two small scoops of ice cream in spite of my better judgment; my coffee gets a dose of non-dairy creamer; and I can drink the tall and beautiful glass of ice cold Lactaid milk, which tastes just like the original version of my childhood.

And when I heard about an amazingly rich and delicious chocolate silk pie without any eggs or milk, but of TOFU... I knew I had to try it!

This vegan dish is a hit with friends and luckily, I had all the ingredients. Here's my adapted version from Alton Brown's Chocolate Moo-less Silk Pie:

Ingredients:
+ 1 cup dark chocolate chips
+ 1 Tbsp Kahlua coffee liqueur
+ 1/2 block silken tofu
+ 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
+ 1/2 Tbsp honey
+ 1/3 cup coffee soy milk
+ 1 banana, sliced
+ 2-3 Tbsp melted butter
+ 1 chocolate cookie pie crust
+ Foil cupcake liners

1. Melt chocolate with coffee liqueur over double boiler. Stir in vanilla.
2. Liquefy tofu, chocolate mixture, honey, and soy milk in blender until smooth.
3. Crumble crust and mix with melted butter.
4. Scoop 1-1 1/2 Tbsp of chocolate crumbs into foil cupcake liners. Use glass or something to apply pressure to cookie crumb as mini tart crust.
5. Place banana slices on top of crust.
6. Pour filling into crust and chill for at least 2 hours.

(About 12 mini tarts)

These mini tartlets were full of richness with a hint of coffee, and the bits of banana helped round out and complement the flavors. I easily ate two of these cupcake sized tarts in one sitting, and would love to substitute strawberries, raspberries, or other fruit with these little chocolate moo-less desserts.