Silken Raspberry Mousse

A lot of tofu mousses involve chocolate. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but they can be rather heavy and, frankly, I like fruity things during the spring and summer far more than I like chocolaty things. I haven’t done many mousses with fruit and tofu, but, in this case, decided to give it a shot.
And I’m glad that I did.
While I wouldn’t say that this has the same light texture as a traditional mousse, it is surprisingly light. I would describe it as halfway between a mousse and a pudding. I combined tofu, raspberries and sugar in the food processor and blended until smooth – simple, right? Silken tofu is the best for a dish like this because it will produce the creamiest results, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’ve used regular tofu, too, and it works pretty well. The main difference is that the regular tofu will not get quite as smooth as the silken, even after some time in the food processor. It really isn’t a huge difference, but if you have the option to use silken, try to take it.
Raspberries are great right now. They’re fresh and all the ones at the shops around me are sweet. Despite their sweetness, I wouldn’t recommend decreasing the amount of sugar that I’ve included in the recipe below. It is just enough to temper the slight tartness of the berries and completely mask the flavor of the tofu. People will definitely not know they're eating something healthy when they eat this – and it is healthy. It is quite low calorie and low fat, not to mention full of fruit and protein from the tofu. I’m tempted to skip dinner and just have a double portion of this dessert as a meal.
The mousse will firm up a bit after a few hours in the refrigerator and it will keep, covered, for a few days. Make it in advance and bring it out as a dessert for a springtime party. I used little ice cream dishes, but martini glasses would make a great serving dish, too.

Silken Rasperry Mousse
12-oz. tofu (silken)
1 1/2 cups raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extact

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until very smooth, about 6 minutes. Divide into individual serving dishes and chill for at least two hours before serving. Garnish each portion with whole raspberries.
Serves 4.