I made this vegan rhubarb panna cotta on a whim and was so pleasantly surprised with how it turned out, plus how easy it was to make. I had an idea of using silken tofu as the base of the panna cotta, since it has that velvety, pudding-like texture that reminds me of the original. For the thickener, I used arrowroot powder, which is what I had it on hand. I will say that the texture of this tofu panna cotta is not perfectly true to acutal panna cotta – it’s a bit softer due to the limitations of arrowroot. Something like agar would have gotten me closer to the original, but I wanted to work with what I had, plus in my experience, arrowroot is much more common in stores. And, the result is so delicious as is!
The silken tofu base is flavored with lemon zest and vanilla, then chilled and topped with a beautiful rhubarb compote. Any other fruit compote or even some sort of caramel sauce can be used in place of the rhubarb. Hope you’ll give this recipe a try sometime this spring/summer.
- 1 lb/455 g rhubarb, sliced into 1" pieces
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 16 oz/455 g silken tofu
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest from 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- In a medium saucepan, combine the rhubarb, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Bring to a boil over medium hight heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the rhubarb is soft and jammy. Let cool, then keep refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to use.
- Prepare 4 small glasses for serving.
- In a blender, combine the tofu, maple syrup, vanilla, and lemon zest. Blend on high until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan. Add the arrowroot little by little, whisking it in simultaneously, to avoid lumps. Heat the saucepan over medium low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes, or until you notice the mixture thickening. Distribute the panna cotta between the prepared glasses and let cool to room temperature. Transfer the glasses to the refrigerator and let the panna cotta chill and set completely.
- Distribute the rhubarb compote over the panna cotta. Serve cold.
Jimena says
Ohh how interesting! Just the other day my mom was telling me about a silken tofu ice cream she used to make when she was a macrobiotic, this reminded me of it.
Anya says
So cool! We also used to make cheesecake with it.