I’m also a big fan of using protein-rich silken tofu—the super-soft variation. When combined with starches and slowly heated, vegan custard mixtures using silken tofu set just like egg-based custard. Your combination using chickpea flour is terrific...
Starches are fun because of their soaking and swelling chemical properties :) Recently, I came up with another 'out-of-the-blue' idea. Instead of chickpea flour, I added chia seed flour to my silken tofu. I loved the soft "jelly" texture of my quiche layer. Have you ever tried chia seed flour in this context?
I have...but I'm not so keen on the 'jelly-like' texture.
Starches are wonderful for thickening, but a word of caution, heat causes the starch granules to expand, which is good in the context of thickening. Too much heat, however, and the starches will explode and cause whatever it is thickening to split. Of course, there are other considerations, namely acids - not all starches like acids and eventually the binds fall apart...which is why I tend to favor tapioca starch in custards with acid (blueberry custard pie) instead of something like cornstarch. I'm not sure how chia flour holds up in acids...but I am up for an experiment... 😁
The behavior will be linked to how the seeds were processed (and, therefore, the type of flour and brand will influence the outcome). I got curious, too. Let me know how the trial goes if you decide to jump on a little kitchen experiment :)
Great article! Thanks :) Since turning to a mostly plant based diet, soy had been really helpful in providing the filling and confort that I sometime lack
I’m also a big fan of using protein-rich silken tofu—the super-soft variation. When combined with starches and slowly heated, vegan custard mixtures using silken tofu set just like egg-based custard. Your combination using chickpea flour is terrific...
Starches are fun because of their soaking and swelling chemical properties :) Recently, I came up with another 'out-of-the-blue' idea. Instead of chickpea flour, I added chia seed flour to my silken tofu. I loved the soft "jelly" texture of my quiche layer. Have you ever tried chia seed flour in this context?
I have...but I'm not so keen on the 'jelly-like' texture.
Starches are wonderful for thickening, but a word of caution, heat causes the starch granules to expand, which is good in the context of thickening. Too much heat, however, and the starches will explode and cause whatever it is thickening to split. Of course, there are other considerations, namely acids - not all starches like acids and eventually the binds fall apart...which is why I tend to favor tapioca starch in custards with acid (blueberry custard pie) instead of something like cornstarch. I'm not sure how chia flour holds up in acids...but I am up for an experiment... 😁
The behavior will be linked to how the seeds were processed (and, therefore, the type of flour and brand will influence the outcome). I got curious, too. Let me know how the trial goes if you decide to jump on a little kitchen experiment :)
Great article! Thanks :) Since turning to a mostly plant based diet, soy had been really helpful in providing the filling and confort that I sometime lack
Yes, I see what you mean. What I like about tofu is its versatility. There are many delicious ways of preparing and consuming it :)