Strawberry Tofu Hearts

Valentine's Day is approaching and it's always a lovely time to do something special for your loved ones though I do truly believe that one should do it all year round! Here's a lighter less guilty of the Strawberry Jelly Heart, tofu version. This recipe doesn't require an oven so it's convenient for those who do not have one! (: 

I used mini cups I re-used from a local caterer. I found similar styled cups though slightly larger in taobao (yay!!!). I'm sure the hubby would love these cups better cos he complained that the mini ones had too little cheesecake and was tough to dig into! The larger ones would be perfect.. I can't wait to bake something new in them! XD However, it was a pity that they arrived a day later than I wished. Nevertheless, if you're using mini cups, you'll get about 28 - 30 cups and about 15 - 18 larger cups using these taobao cups. 

The larger cups I got from taobao looks like this! It even has lids! (: 

These beauties are relatively easy to bake so I'd rate them a difficulty level 3 out of 5. They'll take a total of 1.5 - 2 hours to bake.

Strawberry Tofu Hearts Recipe

This recipe yields 28 - 30 mini cups OR 15 - 18 taobao cups 

180g digestive biscuits

80 unsalted butter

250g cream cheese, room temperature

200g castor sugar

300g silken tofu, room temperature

200g strawberry yoghurt, room temperature

15g gelatin

70g water

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

50g fresh milk

85g strawberry/cherry jello

230ml hot water

230ml cold water

1 - 1.5 punnet strawberries 

Method

Melt the butter in a pot. Alternatively, melt it in the microwave oven on medium heat at 10 second intervals till it's all melted.

Crush the digestive biscuits. I used a food processor for it but you may place the digestive biscuits in a ziplock bag and crush it with a heavy object.

Add the melted butter to the cookies. Mix well with a spoon till you get a mixture that resembles wet sand.

Spoon the mixture into the cups. These cups are mini so I used about 1 tsp of it. 

If you're using these taobao cups I found, you can use about 2.5 - 3 tsp of mixture.

Compact the mixture.

Add gelatin to water and allow it to soak for a while. Warm up mixture over low heat till gelatin has dissolved. Set aside to allow it to cool down. 

In a mixer/mixing bowl, add the castor sugar to the cream cheese.

  

Cream the 2 items together till well mixed. You should not see any lumps in it.

Add in the milk, gelatin mixture, tofu and vanilla bean paste. Mix for a while on low speed.

Add in strawberry yoghurt and mix the entire mixture on low speed till well combined. 

You should get something like this. Avoid using high speed as you wouldn't want air bubbles in your mixture. 

Spoon mixture into cups. Alternatively, use a bowl/measuring cup with a sprout. It's less messy. Set aside while preparing strawberries (room temperature is fine). Wash and dry the strawberries. Slice strawberries in half and cut it into hearts (refer to recipe for Strawberry Jelly Hearts) for way to cut them (: Gently push the strawberries into the cheesecake. Place cheesecake into the refrigerator to set for 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the jello mixture.

Add the hot water into the jello powder. Stir well to dissolve mixture. Add in cold water and mix well. Set aside to cool till solution reaches room temperature. 

Remove cheesecakes from refrigerator after 20 minutes and gently spoon cooled jelly mixture into the cups. Return cheesecake into the refrigerator to set or another 30 minutes. 

Serve these beauties chilled! 

  

To make things more fun, why not pack these lovelies in a pretty box? Love this Hello Kitty Box that has a see-through top. In fact, I probably bought too many (who can resist?) cute cake boxes from Taobao (: 

The polka dots are so adorable!

Pretty see-through window! 

Have fun baking these dearies! (: