Vegan Friday: French silk pie

This pie neither looks nor tastes vegan.

French silk pie is one of the greatest things ever invented. It’s also a ginormous hassle to make and involves raw egg, which isn’t the safest ingredient out there. This three-ingredient variation is faster, safer and completely vegan. W00t!

I’m including two variations here. The first is light, fluffy and virtually indistinguishable from its egg-based inspiration. The second is much richer and heavier and has a texture more like fudge. Both are worthy additions to a Fourth of July picnic or an office potluck.

Version 1 (traditional)
1 pie shell (I used frozen piecrust, but a graham-cracker or Oreo crust will work just as well, or you can make a crust from scratch)
1 bag vegan chocolate chips
Two 10-oz. cartons extra-firm silken tofu
1 tsp. vanilla

Pierce piecrust all over with a fork before baking.

If using a regular piecrust, pierce it all over with a fork and bake it before you start. You can skip this step for a graham-cracker crust, obviously.

I nuked my chocolate chips in a quart canning jar, which will fit on the blender.

Melt chocolate chips. I did mine in a quart Mason jar, nuking for 30 seconds at a time and stirring in between.

Blend chocolate, tofu, peanut butter and vanilla.

Put chocolate chips, tofu and vanilla in a food processor or blender and process until smooth and completely blended. Pour into pie shell and refrigerate for several hours.

Walter was mad because I wouldn’t share the pie.

Version 2 (peanut butter variant, pictured)
1 pie shell
1 bag vegan chocolate chips
One 10-oz. carton extra-firm silken tofu
1 c. smooth peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Prep pie shell as needed. Melt chocolate chips as above. Blend chocolate chips, tofu, peanut butter and vanilla, pour into shell and refrigerate until firm.