Chocolate Pom-Rasp Pudding Parfait or Pie. Heart.

There's one day of the year when the romantic combination of chocolate and red fruit tastes best: Valentine's Day.

We Heart Desserts. Chocolate covered strawberries, a choco-berry shake or even a chocolate-covered strawberry cake. Well now you have one more sweet silky dish to add to your chocolate meets red fruit repertoire: my Chocolate Pom-Rasp Pudding Parfait or Pie. Get creative: make a creamy no-bake pie, fill up parfait glasses complete with fluffy rice whip, or simply eat it by the spoonful with an avalanche of fresh raspberries on top.

Guilt-Free Dessert. And no post-VDay guilt here! This vegan dessert is healthy - it contains heart-healthy pomegranate juice, protein-rich silken tofu and fiber/antioxidant rich raspberries. Nothing says "I love you" more than feeding your hunny something healthy - and delicious. Whip out a blender and have this bake-free dessert on your candlelit table in about an hour (that includes fridge chill time) xxoo...

Happy Valentine's Day Dessert (any day of the year):

Pudding Pie or Parfait? When making this dish you have a few options in the outcome. You can pour the pudding into a graham cracker crust pie shell or you can scoop it layer by layer and build a parfait. You also have the option to adjust the thickness of your pudding. If you want a firmer pudding - keep the recipe as is. If you want a silkier yogurt-consistency pudding, add ¼-1/2 cup more soy milk to each recipe during the boiling stage of the directions.

Pie:

Parfait:

Pomegranate Juice. The recipe is heart-healthy due to the pomegranate juice, soy tofu, antioxidant-rich dark chocolate and even the fresh raspberries. Read all about pomegranate juice's superfruit and heart-health facts here.

Onto the Recipe...

Pom-Rasp Pudding
vegan

1 package vegan Vanilla Pudding Mix
*I use Dr. Oetker brand
1 lb silken tofu, drained
½ cup vanilla soy milk
¾ cup pomegranate juice
*I use POM brand 100% pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup sugar
1 cup raw brazil nuts
1 cup fresh raspberries, washed
optional: 2 tablespoon arrowroot powder
*use 1 tablespoon cornstarch as a sub

Directions:
1. Pour cold soy milk, opt'l arrowroot powder and pudding mix into a soup pot. Whisk to blend.

2. Turn on stove to high. Place pot over stove. Stir continuously, while liquid begins to boil and thicken.

3. Add in pomegranate juice, salt, tofu and sugar. Reduce heat a bit and continue gently stirring so sides do not burn.

4. Mash the tofu a good bit and when pudding mix has thickened, (this should take about 2-4 minutes) remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes to cool before blending.

5. Transfer vanilla pudding to blender (note: it will be considerably chunky before blending). Also add in the brazil nuts and raspberries.

6. Gently blend on low until all the ingredients have smoothed out. Always use extreme caution when blending heated ingredients.

7. Transfer to container to set aside - and continue onto the chocolate pudding.

Dark Chocolate Spice Pudding
vegan

1 package vegan Chocolate Pudding Mix
*I use Dr. Oetker brand
1 lb silken tofu, drained
½ cup vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoon dark chocolate (about 3 big chunks or ¼ cup of chips)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
a few dashes of cayenne
optional: 2 tablespoon arrowroot powder
*use 1 tablespoon cornstarch as a sub

Directions:
1. Pour cold soy milk, opt'l arrowroot powder and pudding mix into a soup pot. Whisk to blend.

2. Turn on stove to high. Place pot over stove. Stir continuously, while liquid begins to boil and thicken.

3. Add in salt, tofu, spices and chocolate. Reduce heat a bit and continue gently stirring so sides do not burn.

4. Mash the tofu a good bit and when pudding mix has thickened, (this should take about 2-4 minutes) remove from heat and set aside for a few minutes to cool before blending.

5. Transfer chocolate pudding to blender (note: it will be considerably chunky before blending).

6. Gently blend on low until all the ingredients have smoothed out. Scrape sides well. Always use extreme caution when blending heated ingredients.

7. Begin building your parfaits or pie. Pour vanilla and chocolate puddings into dishes however you'd like. Smaller amounts of pudding (such as a tall glasses parfait) will chill more quickly than larger containers (such as a pie shell). Use fresh berries and rice whip to complete your presentation. A dash of cinnamon or cayenne on top is also nice

8. Allow to chill for at least 30 minute before serving. Overnight is best.

Enjoy! xxoo

Amount Note: This recipe contains two pudding recipes. One for the Pom-Rasp Pudding and one for the dark chocolate spice pudding. Each recipe makes about 4 cups of pudding - so you will have leftovers I'm sure. But that's OK! Just store in fridge and eat within a few days. You can also halve the recipes if you want a smaller portion prepared.

Ingredients Note: You will need, in addition to the recipe ingredients below, a graham cracker pie shell (if doing a pie), some fresh berries for garnishing, and also some optional rice whip.