Soft and silky Tofu Pudding (Blancmange) is made with tofu, honey, gelatin, and soy milk. Topped with a sweet-tart strawberry sauce, this pudding makes a delightful low-calorie dessert.
Growing up in Japan, when I go to the dessert and snack aisle in the supermarket, there are endless choices to pick from. One of my favorite desserts is pudding or flan. The smooth silky texture topped with a bit of caramel sauce is irresistible. Besides the traditional pudding that uses eggs and milk, the Japanese also make pudding out of tofu. Today I want to introduce you to this delicious and delicate Tofu Pudding!
Tofu is a pretty common ingredient in Japan, enjoyed by itself or used in savory and sweet dishes. If you haven’t tried tofu dessert, I hope today’s recipe will help you discover a new way to enjoy nutritious tofu!
What is Tofu Pudding?
Tofu pudding, or sometimes called Tofu Blancmange, has a silky melt-in-your-mouth texture. It’s made with simple ingredients: silken tofu, soy milk, almond extract, and a sweetener such as honey. I recommend making a simple fruit sauce to go with the tofu pudding to improve both the visual and the taste of the dish. For today’s recipe, I made a delightful strawberry sauce, but feel free to try your own sauce and let me know what works!
What kind of tofu to use for Tofu Pudding?
To get the best texture for this dessert, please use silken tofu. Silken tofu is undrained, unpressed tofu that contains the highest moisture content of all fresh tofu. Silken tofu is available in several consistencies, including “soft”, “light firm” and “firm”, but all silken tofu is more delicate than regular firm tofu. For this recipe, I’ve used Mori-Nu silken tofu.
I recently saw Mori-Nu tofu in the vegetarian section of an American grocery store near my house and I was intrigued because it’s by Morinaga, a Japanese food company with over 110 years of history. It’s unusual to see their products on the shelf. I did a bit of research on the product and learned that Morinaga Milk Industry Inc. developed the packaging technology where tofu can be stored without refrigeration over 40 years ago. In addition to no refrigeration required, it has a long shelf life without preservatives.
Knowing this, I now always keep a few packages of Mori-Nu silken tofu in my kitchen pantry so that I can make tofu miso soup anytime.
Plus, all of Mori-Nu silken tofu is made with non-GMO soy. Tofu is a great source of protein and is a versatile, reliable substitute for dairy and eggs. It is also gluten-free so you can use it in your gluten-free recipes.
If you want to test out their products, make sure to enter the sweepstakes hosted by Mori-Nu at the end of the recipe.
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Tofu Pudding (Blancmange)
Video
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup boiling water
- 4 gelatin sheets (0.4 oz, 10 g; 2.5 g per PerfectaGel Gold gelatin sheet)
- 6.2 oz firm silken tofu (I used Mori-Nu brand)
- 5 Tbsp honey
- 1½ cups unsweetened soy milk
- ½ tsp almond extract
For the Strawberry Sauce
- ½ lb strawberries
- 1 Tbsp honey
- ¼ lemon
For the Garnish
- mint leaves
- fresh berries
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. You‘ll need 5 ramekins that are 4 oz (120 ml) each.
- Combine ⅓ cup boiling water and 4 gelatin sheets in a bowl or measuring cup. Whisk together until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
- Cut 6.2 oz firm silken tofu into 1-inch cubes and add them to a food processor. Add 5 Tbsp honey and 1½ cups unsweetened soy milk and purée all together.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Add the gelatin mixture and ½ tsp almond extract and whisk without making too many bubbles.
- If you‘d like your pudding to have an extra smooth texture, run the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve (optional).
- Ladle the mixture into individual ramekins. Chill in the refrigerator until set, for at least 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, make the strawberry sauce. Cut ½ lb strawberries into small cubes and mash with a fork or potato masher. Add 1 Tbsp honey and the juice from ¼ lemon.
- When the pudding is set, run a knife around the pudding to loosen. Turn over onto a plate and shake gently to release the pudding. Pour the strawberry sauce on top and garnish with mint leaves and fresh berries on top.
To Store
- You can keep the leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Dear Nami san, thank you for the great pudding recipe, it is my favorite dessert now! I am a vegetarian and make it with kanten. It took me 4 times to get it right 😉 , chiefly due to my lack of experience with kanten. As I had to adjust the process a bit, I would like to share the result with you. Please let me know what do you think and how it could be improved.
(1) I reduced the weight of kanten compared to that of gelatin by 3X. You have recommended to use the same weight, and I initially started with that amount. But at the end I obtained the texture and consistency that I liked best by using 2g of powdered kanten per 3-serving recipe with a tiny bit of extra water:
60 ml water
2 g powdered kanten (1/2 of the 4g “stick” package)
105 g firm silken tofu
3 Tbsp honey
210 ml unsweetened soymilk
1/4 tsp almond extract
This quantity is what you recommend in your article about kanten: 2 g of kanten are used to set about 300 ml of liquid in order to get jiggly consistency.
(2) Since kanten does not dissolve in the hot water as gelatin does, i followed your instructions for kanten and soy milk from the Matcha Vegan Panna Cotta recipe. This is what I did:
– Pureed tofu, honey, almond extract, with a few tablespoons of the soy milk in a blender.
– Warmed up the rest of the soy milk.
– Combined kanten and water in a pot, brought it to the boil, lowered the heat, and whisked for 2 minutes until kanten was dissolved.
– Added the warm soy milk and the tofu mix, and heated and whisked the mix for a minute or two until it all became uniform.
It worked really well! The kanten seemed to set a bit when the milk and tofu were mixed in, but it dissolved again with more heating and whisking. Would it be better to warm up tofu mix together with the soy milk?
Thanks again!!!
Hi Roni, Wow! Great work! The ingredients balance looks good!
Yes. It may be a better idea to add the tofu into warm soy milk first and mix well and warm up a bit together (Make sure not to heat/warm up too long and constantly mix so it would not be burnt) and then pour it into the Kanten.
We hope this helps! Thank you for sharing your cooking experience with us.😊
Thank you for your kind words and for the advice, Nami! I will do as you suggest, and will be very careful not to burn it 😉
Oops – *Naomi* – sorry for misspelling your name
Hi Roni, No problem! We’re all good.
What would be the must suitable vegan replacement for the gelatine? And what quantity please.
Making this was a last minute decision (I am not typically one for desserts) But I had a lovely Japanese themed dinner party ready (with many of your other recipes that I have commented on before). The dinner had to be moved one day so I had some more time and decided to add a dessert. At first I did not know whether it was just ok – but when I had the one left rammekin after my lunch the next day, I knew I really really like this dish. It is soothing, gentle with a lovely contrast between the silky blancmange and the tangy strawberry. Thank you for yet another dish I will make again!
Hi Afra,
Thank you very much for trying many of Nami’s recipes!!
We’re so glad to hear you enjoyed this pudding and making again!💕
Nami-san,
The pudding looks so yummy and pretty too. Thank you for the recipe. We love tofu, and soy are plentiful in Indonesia.
Are there any alternatives to strawberries for the sauce? Thank you
Hi Novi! You can make a different sauce with other types of fruits you like. Hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
I tried this recipe yesterday, but I messed up a little by using way too much soy milk (and red colored gelatine), and everything was waaaay to liquid. I stored it in the fridge overnight, and now it has an awesome jiggly consistency, and I can’t wait to try it later!
Hi Tilia! I got nervous for a second. 😀 I hope you enjoyed this recipe!
Hi,
Is it possible to use soft silken tofu instead of the firm one? I have a box of silken tofu, but it doesn’t say whether it’s soft or firm, it’s not specified on the packaging.
Hi Fei! I think you can. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Thanks Nami, it worked fine! I also topped it with brown sugar syrup instead of strawberry sauce
Sorry for not checking other people’s comments properly before posting my question, you already answered Ruth (the question above mine), yet I totally missed it. Very embarrassed.
Hi Fei! I apologize for my late response. I’m glad to hear yours came out well. Thank you for your kind feedback. And no worries about checking other comments. 🙂
[…] 19. Tofu Pudding (Blancmange) […]
Hello nami, where I live it is possible to get tofu Mori-nu, however I am not clear which variety is used in this recipe; is the blue box (firm) ?. I also have facilities to buy the red box variety (soft) at a very cheap price, however I do not know in which recipes I can use this variety since I have heard that it is very brittle, have you ever used it? Would it serve for example for miso soup or would it be better to opt for a firmer variety (blue box)?
Thanks for your recipes
Hi Ruth! I used firm silken tofu (blue) but you can use other varieties as they are all silken tofu and softer than other brand.
Yes, they are brittle – it’s silken tofu (with different firmness). I would use these silken tofu for miso soup, mapo tofu, hiyayakko (cold tofu) etc. Something that’s easy to break but okay to be broken (no need to stay in square shapes).
Hope I answered to your question. 🙂
Is there a way to subsitute almond extract, since My family cannot have almonds?
Hi Erica! I apologize for my late response. You can totally omit it. Vanilla, maybe?
Hi nami
I want to make this dessert but I have a question: how many oz / ml are the molds you use?
Hi Ruth! You will need 5 4-oz ramekins (4 oz = 1/2 cup = 120 ml). 🙂
Is there any substitutes for honey? Sugar free substitutes?
Hi Jenny! I had never tried this recipe with substitute… If you don’t sweeten, it’ll be more like savory, so you need to sweeten this to make it dessert. How about maple syrup?
My daughter wanted strawberry pudding, so I just changed up your blancmange recipe a little. I thawed out 1 cup of sliced frozen strawberries. I drained the juice into a measuring cup and added enough soy milk to make 1 1/4 cups. You have to decrease the liquid to adjust for the liquid remaining in the berries. I also added 1/8 tsp of powdered red food coloring to give it a nice pink color. Followed the rest of the recipe minus the almond flavor and we had a relatively healthy strawberry pudding. Thanks for the recipes!
Hi Pamela! That sounds incredible! Thank you so much for sharing your adjustment to make strawberry version with us! xoxo
Is this recipe using the equivalent of ONE gelatin sheet?
Hi Donna! I added the info. Each gelatin sheet is 2.5 g for mine, so I’d need 4 sheets. Please check your package. You’ll need 10 g of gelatin in total. 🙂
I’ve made this several times and always love the result. I leave out the almond extract because I’m allergic to nuts but it’s still good. Perfect recipe for a tofu lover like me! Moreover, I’ve been having some problem with my stomach and the doctor told me to avoid eating sugar (honey is still fine) and also that I might have lactose intolerance so…this recipe is perfect for when I crave some sweets! Thanks for your hard work. I would love it if you could post more dairy-free sweet recipes.
I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! And thank you for your request on dairy-free sweet recipes. I’m not so expert so I’ll have to study a little bit. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
This looks amazing and I would really love to try it. Is there a way I can substitute kanten for the gelatin? My body has issues with the stuff for some reason. If I can use kanten (I have the powdered one at home) about how much should I use?
Thanks!!
Hi Ren! Sure you can use kanten. The texture will be not as jiggly with kanten but if you don’t mind, it’s totally possible.
10 g gelatin powder is about 1 Tbsp. gelatin powder.
1 Tbsp. gelatin powder = 1 Tbsp. kanten powder.