BakeBakeBake

Hey bakecists!
Long time, no entry.

I decided to throw my powdered wig into the ring for this month's challenge, since all the recipes I've posted to this date have been on the health-conscious, high-protein side. Normally, I follow a lower-carb diet, which means I do not fear fat and generally consume quite a bit of it. Fat ain't the enemy, people, but some folks still think it is. I try to stick with healthy fats when I use 'em, and have developed the most INSANE love of coconut lately so I thought "holy hell, wouldn't it be fun to attempt something that's low-fat AND coconut?" WTF?! Low-fat? Coconut? LOW-FAT AND COCONUT?? Could it be done? And, more importantly, could it be done in a TASTY manner?

Well. I did. I made a low-fat pie. A LOW FAT CHOCOLATE COCONUT PIE. And it's good. And by 'good', I mean, AWESOME. And it almost didn't make the censors here. :O My boyfriend, who absolutely dislikes any of my healthy cooking (and claims he can 'taste' the beans in my black-bean brownies when NOBODY ELSE CAN) was amazed: "as a lifetime despiser of tofu, I was surprised by how well the tofu was masked by the delicious chocolatey flavour."

What did you say? Tofu? Why..yes! And: you'll never guess what random ingredient replaced the fat in my flakey pie crust....it will seriously muck your brain up!





The pie:


The filling is a recipe I adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie, her 'Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Pie' to be exact. I modified it to suit my fitness needs and will post my version thus:

1 package Mori-Nu Silken Tofu (firm!)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk of choice
scant 1/8 tsp salt
6 oz dark chocolate (baking chocolate)
2 tbsp xylitol
2 tbsp artificial coconut extract.

Basically, melt the chocolate in a double-boiler and then blend all that s**t up in your food processor.

The filling is a no-bake filling, but, for this pie to qualify for the BakeBakeBake challenge, bakeage needed to occur. I'm not a huge pie fan, but, I have been working on perfecting my pie crust, so I was all like "yah! I need a pie crust!" Immediately after, I was like "s**t!! pie crust are held together with fat! F**k!!"

So I wracked my brains online and found a crazy recipe for a flakey pie crust that uses...mashed banana?? It was so weird, I HAD TO TRY IT.

The ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour*
(*I used 1/2 + 1 tbsp whole wheat and 1/2 + 1 tbsp all purpose)
1 peeled banana, chilled
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp xylitol
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp cold water

Basically, you make the pie crust the same way you do as a full-fat one: break up the cold banana into the whole wheat, add some water, don't over-process it, chill for 20 mins in the fridge.

I pre-baked the pie crust for 30 mins at 350F in the oven (score the bottom or else you'll get bubbles) and then poured the chocolate silk pie filling in and let it set overnight.

As a capper, I was like "as if this dessert isn't ridiculously healthy enough, I'm going to up the ante and make a FAT-FREE FROSTING.

So I adapted Tosca Reno's Yogurt Cheese Frosting recipe. It's a bit labour-intensive, so I actually didn't finish it in time for the photography, so instead, I did a glaze with yogurt and xylitol, blended confectionary sugar style:



But, if you still want the recipe for yogurt cheese frosting, here it is:

1 container of vanilla greek yoghurt (fat free, of course!)
cheese cloth & a strainer.
Strain the yogurt over a couple of days, changing the cheesecloth layer daily. It should end up in a consistency like cream cheese. Then, add your ratio of xylitol that you blend in a food processor to be very fine (I like to go with 2 cups sugar to 1/2 cup yogurt cheese for a thick buttercream consistency). I can't stress enough how much this recipe has changed my life. I frost ALL my cupcakes this way and nobody can tell the difference (in fact, I've been told that my red velvet cupcakes are the greatest thing ever due to the "slightly tangy" frosting--I just use plain yogurt instead of vanilla for that one).

Then, we topped off the pie with toasted coconut (which you would omit if you were going totally fat-free, but we weren't..)

FINAL NOTES:
This is a low-fat recipe. Which means the sugar content is extra amplified. In the future, I'd cut down the sugar addition to 1 tbsp xylitol in the fudge filling, and not add any frosting. This pie is rich enough on its own. The pie crust, while delicious and suspiciously devoid of a banana-y flavour, was a bit dry in the thicker parts, so it will work best as a very very VERY thin crust. In the future, I will probably do a graham cracker crust for this pie, but that involves butter, and wouldn't fit in with the challenge!



And of course, the nutritional information:

Pie filling - Calories: 142, fat: 6g, 4g protein 10g carbs
Pie crust - Calories: 76, fat: 0.3g, 2g protein 15g carbs

This is based upon 8 servings. And trust me, this pie is so rich and chocolatey, you won't need to have a bigger piece ;)