2018 Soy and Tofu Dessert Competition winners

First Place:

Triple Tofu Black Forest Trifle
Recipe by: Kim Guess
Occupation: Dietician
Residence: Oakland, Calif.

36 ounces silken tofu
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk
12 ounces frozen cherries, thawed, juice reserved
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 cup agave syrup
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 ounce dark chocolate bar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions (Serves 10)

To make the cake
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 8×11” baking pan with one tablespoon canola oil and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk to combine.
In a food processor, puree 12 ounces tofu until very smooth. Add sugar, 3/4 cup soy milk,1/2 cup canola oil, and two teaspoons vanilla extract and puree until well combined.
Pour tofu mixture into dry ingredients and stir until fairly smooth, but some lumps are OK.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the chocolate pudding
In a food processor, puree 12 ounces tofu until very smooth. Add 1/2 cup soy milk, two tablespoons agave syrup and two teaspoons vanilla extract and puree until well combined.
Melt chocolate chips in a small bowl by microwaving for 30 seconds at a time, stirring, and repeating until melted (about 1 1/2 minutes).
Pour melted chocolate into tofu mixture and puree until smooth. Refrigerate until needed for assembly.

To make the cream
In a food processor, puree 16 ounces tofu until very smooth. Add three tablespoons agave, lemon juice, one tablespoon vanilla, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and puree until smooth. Refrigerate until needed for assembly.

To assemble the trifle
Cut cake into one-inch cubes. Cut thawed cherries in half and place reserved juice in a shallow bowl.
Dip one side of the cake into reserved cherry juice. Place one layer of cake cubes into serving dish, dipped side up. Spoon a light layer of cream on top of the cake. Add a sparse layer of cherries. Top with a fairly generous but not solid layer of pudding.
Repeat steps above. Use a vegetable peeler to shave dark chocolate on top as a garnish. Serve cold.

Second Place and People’s Choice:

Tofu Big Wave (Edo Sweets)
Recipe by: Akimi Furutani
Occupation: Creator
Residence: San Francisco

For Matcha Bavarian Cream
Heavy Cream
150 c
Soy milk 100 cc
Soft tofu 100 g
Matcha powder 10 g
Granulated sugar 70 g
Powdered gelatin 8 g
2 Egg yolks
Orange liquor/extract 1 Tbsp

For Kinako Castella Cake
Granulated sugar 200 g
Bread flour 130 g
Honey 100 cc
Kinako 50 g
6 Eggs
Soy milk 3 Tbsp
Olive oil 2 Tbsp

For Blueberry Sauce
Fresh blueberries 200 g
Granulated sugar 50 g
Lemon juice 2 Tbsp

For Whipped Cream
Heavy cream 100 cc
Granulated sugar 5 g
Orange liquor/extract 1 Tbsp

Directions (Serves 4-5)
For Tofu Matcha Bavarian Cream
First, measure out the water and add the gelatin powder. Stir to dissolve.
Next, heat the soymilk in a saucepan. Heat the soymilk until there are small bubbles that form around the edges of the saucepan.
Break the two egg yolks into a bowl and add the sugar. Beat the egg mixture until it turns white.
Add the milk mixture to the egg mixture to combine. Whisk while doing so.
Then pour the mixture into another saucepan/pot. Heat over low heat while stirring. Be careful not to bring it to a boil. When it reaches about 176°F, remove the saucepan from the stove.
Mix the matcha powder and tofu in an electric mixer until finely mixed.
Add the rehydrated (powdered) gelatin, matcha powder and tofu with the heated mixture into the saucepan, and mix well.
Strain this mixture into a bowl, through a mesh strainer.
Next, float the bowl over ice water; stir the mixture with a spatula.
Chill the mixture until slightly thick.
Whip the heavy whipped cream contents quickly. It should be mixed well until it becomes a nice, thick, fluffy light texture.
Then add this heavy whipped cream mixture into the mixture with the saucepan containing the rehydrated gelatin, matcha powder and tofu.
Chill mixture into a 24.5 x 11 x 7 cm-size pan and cool for two hours in the refrigerator.
Take out after two hours and add to plate.

For Kinako Castella Cake
First, prepare parchment paper and cut the corners off, or align and cut the parchment paper according to the size of the pan you will be baking with. Add it along the size of the pan.
Add 100 cc honey with 100 cc warm water, and whisk well.
Sift the bread flour, and whisk the eggs until combined.
Add the sugar.
Beat the eggs and sugar on high speed for five minutes, or beat manually for eight minutes.
Add the honey mixture, whisk until combined.
Add the bread flour/kinako powder one-third at a time.
Whisk on medium-low speed until combined.
Pour the cake batter into the parchment paper-lined pan. After pouring the batter, zigzag with a skewer to remove air bubbles.
Bang the pan against a tabletop a few times to further remove air bubbles.
Bake at 350 °F for 40 to 45 minutes.
After baking, remove the castella cake from the pan.
Wrap cake with saran wrap, and make sure to tightly wrap the baked cake securely to enhance cake moisture.
Place in fridge for 12 hours (or overnight) in the refrigerator.
After 12 hours, carefully remove the parchment paper.
Trim off the side edges of castella cake to make sure only the top and bottom of the dark brown colored portion of the cake remains.
Cut castella cake into pieces that are 1/2-inch thick, a length of three inches, and a height of two inches. Cut topside corners/edges in a triangular shape to create a mountain shape (resembling a Mount Fuji shape). This step is optional, if you would like to recreate the same exact creation.

For Blueberry Sauce
In a saucepan, add the blueberries, granulated sugar and lemon juice over medium heat.
Heat the mixture until boiled. Then heat over low heat, five to six additional minutes so it will thicken into a nice sauce.
After heating, cool down the mixture, and strain with a mesh strainer to separate blueberry pieces from the actual sauce.
Finally serve with the Kinako Castella cake and Bavarian Cream.

For Whipped Cream
Mix the whipped cream contents in a bowl and whip with a hand mixer until it becomes a fluffy topping that has a whipped cream consistency.
Serve as a topping for the dessert.

Third Place:

Soy Cream Pan with Kinako Swirl
Recipe by: Jennifer Hasegawa
Occupation: Information Architect
Residence: San Francisco

Water Roux
25 g bread flour
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup (60g) vanilla soy milk

350 g bread flour
55 g sugar
2 tsp rapid-rise yeast
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup (125 g) warm (~112 degrees °F) vanilla soy milk
30 g softened butter
1 egg (for egg wash)
Corn syrup (optional, for glazing)

Soy Cream Custard
500 ml (490 g) vanilla soy milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
75 g sugar
25 g flour
20 g cornstarch

Kinako Swirl
2 T flour
2 T kinako (toasted soy bean flour)
1 t sugar
4 T water

Make the Water Roux
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together ingredients until there are no lumps.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the roux thickens to a paste.
3. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to cool as you make the dough.

Make the Dough
1. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
2. Add the cooled water roux, warm soy milk and egg. Mix until combined.
3. Knead the dough for five minutes.
4. Add the softened butter.
5. Knead for 10 more minutes. The dough will be smooth and glossy.
6. Grease a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl and put it in a warm place to allow the dough to rise. Alternatively, you can put the covered bowl of dough in the refrigerator and let rise overnight.

Make the Soy Custard
1. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks. Add the flour and cornstarch and continue whisking until combined.
2. In a large saucepan, bring the soy milk and vanilla to a boil.
3. In a slow, gradually stream, add the hot soy milk mixture to the egg mixture, whisking continuously.
4. Add the combined mixture back to the large saucepan. Whisk continuously over medium heat to bring to a boil. Cook until the mixture reaches the consistency of a thick pudding.
5. Transfer the custard to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pushing the plastic wrap to rest against the surface of the custard. This will prevent a skin from forming over the custard.

Assemble and Bake the Buns
1. Punch down your risen dough. Divide the dough into 18 pieces, roughly 38 g each.
2. Take a piece of dough and shape into a ball. With a rolling pin, roll out into a 3-4 inch circle.
3. Put 1 T of cooled custard in the middle of the circle.
4. Wrap the dough around the custard. To do this, bring up two opposite edges of the circle over custard and pinch. Bring up the other two opposite edges and pinch.
Gather the remaining edges and pinch to seal. Turn it seam-side down, cup your hand lightly over it, and move your hand in a circular motion to shape it into a ball.
5. Place the ball, seam-side down, on a greased baking sheet. Continue with remaining dough and custard.
6. Beat the egg to make an egg wash. Brush over each bun.
7. Put the buns in a warm place to rise for an hour.
8. While the bun rise, make the kinako swirl paste. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients until a paste forms. Put the paste into a piping bag with a small tip.
9. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
10. Once the buns have risen, pipe a kinako swirl on each bun.
11. Bake for 20 minutes, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway through.
12. Heat the corn syrup for 30 seconds in the microwave. Brush over the top of the
warm buns.
13. Transfer to racks to cool.

Fourth Place:

Berry Tofu Cheesecake
Recipe by: Eri Combs
Occupation: Baker
Residence: Hayward, Calif.

(7-inch round cake pan)
1/2 package (8 oz) tofu (silken)
1/2 package (8 oz) cream cheese
1/2 cup yogurt
1 pack of graham crackers (9 crackers, about 4.5 oz)
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp sugar
3 to 4 strawberries (diced)
2 envelopes (0.5 oz) of gelatin powder
6 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp lemon juice

For decoration (optional)
1 Tbsp strawberry jam
2 Tbsp water
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 Tbsp water
your favorite berries

Directions (Serves 8)
1. Crush graham crackers into crumbs, combine with melted butter. Press onto the bottom of cake pan.
2. In a small bowl, combine gelatin powder and water. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, put tofu, cream cheese, yogurt, and sugar, and mix well. Add the lemon juice and mix well again.
4. Put the gelatin and water bowl from step two into a microwave and heat for about 30 seconds or until gelatin is melted.
5. Pour melted gelatin into the large bowl from step three and mix well.
6. Pour your mixture through a strainer, pushing it through with a bowl scraper as necessary.
7. Add diced strawberries and mix one more time.
8. Pour into the cake pan (on top of the graham cracker crumbs), and let them cool in a refrigerator until the gelatin is set. This should take about 30 minutes.

For decoration (Optional)
1. Combine 1 Tbsp strawberry jam and 2 Tbsp water.
2. Combine 1 tsp gelatin and 1 Tbsp water, put a microwave, and heat up about 10 second or until gelatin are all melted.
3. Mix step one and step two well. Pour mixture onto cheesecake after it solidifies.
4. Let them cool again in a refrigerator until gelatin set. Again, this should take about 30 minutes.
5. You can add your favorite berries on top. Enjoy!