Fruit Pizza w/ Sweet Tofu Topping

Hi and welcome back to Ria Lives Well!

So here’s a super belated question:

How did you spend your fourth of July?

Mine started off tame. I went to a BBQ thrown by my roommate’s aunt, whose family had a beautiful home and a “hobby shop” next door which was literally a mansion. Seriously, guys? The size of their “hobby shop” will be larger than any home I own. It was ridiculously huge.

But let’s talk about the food, and how yesterday was a test of my proud veganism.

P.S. Sorry in advance for the blurred pics. This is what happens when you take pictures of the food people are in a rush to eat. Oh yeah–and when you suck at taking pictures.

My roommate’s plate.

My other roommate’s plate.

And then there was my plate.

Not as impressive, huh?

I could barely eat anything at this fourth of July BBQ. I was surrounded by country music loving, rodeo attending, proud carnivores who didn’t know a thing about a vegan diet.

Oh well.

The chips were good.

And who can complain about cherries and blueberries?

Despite my limited food options, I took away a few good recipe ideas, such as this fruit pizza with cream cheese–although the creme cheese isn’t cream cheese, but uber sweetened tofu. My roommate’s grandma makes it every year {with cream cheese, of course}, and it’s now their signature dessert. The crust is made out of a large sugar cookie, then topped with sweetened cream cheese and fresh berries.

After wiping the drool from the corner of my mouth, I thought to myself: I can totally make this vegan.

And so I did.

Mini Fruit Pizzas w/ Sweet Tofu Topping

Inspired by: About.Com

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 2/3 cup sugar 3/4 cup vegan butter 1/4 cup solid coconut butter 3 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon baking soda pinch of salt 1/2 cup soft tofu (or vegan cream cheese) 2 1/2 tablespoons confectioners sugar Strawberries and blueberries

Cookie Crust

Preheat over to 400 deg. F. Sift flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a medium sized bowl, add warmed vegan butter, sugar and lemon juice. Melt your coconut butter and add it to the mix. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Take roughly a fist full of dough and flatten with the palm of your hand, shaping the cookie to neaten it if you’d like. Bake for 10 minutes.

Sweet Tofu Topping

In a small bowl, stir tofu until smooth. Add confectioners sugar and stir until well combined. Once the cookies cool, spread a generous amount over your cookies. Top with chopped blueberries and strawberries.

The cookie wasn’t so much a cookie as it was a sweetened crust. I guess that’s not a bad thing, since it is a fruit pizza. I’ll experiment a little to create more of a cookie texture. Maybe AP flour instead of wheat? But personally, I liked the result. Make that really liked the result.

Using tofu was just a more convenient {and cheaper} way to create the sweet topping. If you prefer, you can use cream cheese instead. For every 1/4 cup of cream cheese, add 2-2.5 tablespoons of confectioners sugar.

So what’s this blurry picture, you ask?

A dip someone brought to the BBQ that crippled me with it’s zesty aroma. My roommates loved it so much, they finished 75% of the container. No joke. Apparently, it was just that good–they wouldn’t stop raving about it.

“It’s spicy, but not too spicy,” they said. “Creamy, but not rich. The flavor combination is amazing.”

Their conclusion:

“We have to buy this when we go back to Corvallis.”

Although I couldn’t dip any of my chips in it {the first two ingredients are cream cheese and sour cream}, I’m a chips and dip girl. So of course I have to veganize it. Besides, if it’s as good as my roomies claim, then it’s worth the “veganizing” investment.

The night of my fourth of July was spent with drunken frat boys yelling “Amuurica!”, me attempting to speak Spanish to a student from Hong Kong and 15 minutes of fireworks.

This is what the fourth of July is all about; celebration, and we portrayed this theme with great enthusiasm. Hope you all enjoyed your 4th as well!

~Live Well!