Currently viewing the tag: "marshmallow"
Since moving I’ve been peeking at my cookbooks ore often. My Sweet Vegan is literally brimming with little Post-its marking the recipes that enticed me. Post-its on the tops of pages, on the sides, on the corners. It’s been years since I flipped through its pages and I no longer remember the rhyme or reason for this placement. One thing is for sure. I needed to make the Marshmallow Mud Cake before another year passes. And with non-traditional Thanksgiving festivities with the family on the calendar, I was on it!
Getting started, deep dark cocoa is a must.
The batter was a bit thick, even with a splash more of milk. It came out of the oven looking like an enormous Dutch Fudge cookie with a soft, spring bounce. I will have to make this cake again when I don’t plan on piling a bunch of super-sweet white glop on its top.
Making the marshmallow topping was quite the adventure. I blew out the motor on the handmixer. It seriously was smoking. The Electrician hooked the mixer attachment into his drill and it still did not whip up to peaks. I wound up smearing the marshmallow mixer on top of the cake.
Last but not least the chocolate drizzle. I felt like Jackson Pollack flipping drizzles of dark chocolate on a stark white canvas. Gorgeous.
So pretty.
Once sliced, the marshmallow topping oozed and morphed, freeform style.
Goodbye, dear summer. You moved so swiftly through your weeks. But first, a few more bites…
Goodbye, peak season for juicy and tender summer fruits. Soon it’ll be time for apples, pumpkins and figs.
Goodbye, peaches and characteristically-summer stone fruit, best warm-skinned and taunt on the beach. Goodbye, grilled peaches, a different entity altogether, may the sparking lumpwood charcoal let you sweat your sugar.
Goodbye, real vanilla beans; coconut milk ice cream. You’ll pair up with some sweet goodies later, and I’ll see you then.
Goodbye, summer-ish marinade: Cindy’s Kitchen‘s amazing mango coconut marinade. Your sweet zing is perfect when infiltrating tempeh’s densely-packed atoms.
Goodbye, elaborate ice cream concoctions with aforementioned summer fruits, hot fudge and Smucker’s marshmallow topping. You’ll hardly seem appropriate after today. Warm, baked cakes and cookies soon will lessen the sting… till then…
Goodbye, Summer!
Splitting my time between the boroughs and the ‘burbs, the local availability of vegan treats fluctuates. When hit with the craving for an elaborate banana split, it was a quest… and test: How are the mainstream supermarkets keeping up with healthier food trends? I was impressed with what was available! From vegan Maraschino cherries free of artificial dyes, Carmine or corn syrups… high-end fruit preserves that sizzle up into wonderful ice cream toppings… pints of So Delicious dairy-free ice cream… and the less-natural but vegan marshmallow topping from Smucker’s. The only thing that was missing from my split was a vegan whip cream! But Freeport’s Stop N Shop was stocked with Tofutti cream cheese and sour cream, as well as Earth Balance. Not bad.
- 1 Banana, sliced in half lengthwise
- 3 scoops So Delicious Purely Decadent cookie dough ice cream
- Drizzle of Smucker’s marshmallow topping
- Bonne Maman strawberry preserves, heated on the stovetop
- Santa Cruz organic Chocolate syrup {In the fridge since last summer}
- A Maraschino cherry from Tillen Farms
- Sprinkle of chopped walnut
Spending an overnight with the entire 5th grade class of 2011 at a Club Getaway, I knew food selection would be lacking. I packed some goodies to ensure I wouldn’t waste away.
Packing essentials: glycerine soap, hand sanitizer, soymilk, corn nuts, sesame sticks, Happy Baby mango puree, Plum Organics super puffs–purples, Sweet & Sara‘s marshmallows, Larabars: chocolate chip cookie dough and tropical fruit tart and Probar s’mores bar.
Lunch and dinner consisted of a canned salad bar and watermelon. Far better than I expected.
What’s a campfire without a marshmallow. After a long day of bungee trambolining, inflatable bouncy house sparring, archery, etc, I needed this flame-toasted Sweet & Sara’s.
I’ve made scrumptious strawberry shortcakes, heavenly black and white cookies, the vegan-elusive rainbow cookie, delectable Milano cookies, huge and fatty cinnamon buns, savory Red Lobster cheese and garlic biscuits, sweet bread, even cashew-cream-based vegan cannoli… all-vegan versions of the tempting treats I grew up craving. Treats I once had given up on. Twinkies, cupcakes, whoopie pies, cookies, and the list goes on and on.
All have proved, with flying colors, that animal products are just plain not necessary, to say the very, very least. It’s a quest that feeds my vegan values and has me continuing to look for veganization challenges.
I am moving onward to veganize yet another treat from my youth: the Scooter Pie. Ah, the Scooter Pie. Kris, Mike and Ken, I want to apologize. It was always me who finished the box. It was me that hoarded those marshmallow-sandwiched-chocolate-coated pies in a safe place behind the Ronzoni. I loved Scooter Pies, and I’ve been working up the energy to veganize them. So now… let’s rock.
Prep:
1. Prepare baking sheets. Line 2 standard sheets with parchment (for baking the cookies) and another high-walled baking sheet for the marshmallow to set. Cover the marshmallow sheet with a mix of 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar and 2 Tablespoons cornstarch. Make another batch of this mixture to sprinkle on top of the marshmallow as well.
Sandwich Dough {veganized from this}:
1 cup Earth Balance
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Ener-G egg replacer
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2. Make cookie layer. With a mixer on medium speed, beat the Earth Balance until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, add the egg replacer and the vanilla extract, and beat to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour and the salt, and mix just until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough in two, shape into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness. It’s best to secure your rolling space with some wax paper and have plenty of flour on hand as dough gets sticky. Using the biscuit cutter, cut out the rounds and place them on the parchment-prepared baking sheets, about ½ an inch apart. Refrigerate the cookies (on the baking sheets) for 10 minutes.
4. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on the pans for a couple of minutes, and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely. Pack in an airtight container after cool.
Marshmallow layer: {From these informative links: instructions and pictures}
5 tablespoons “100% soy protein” from Vitamin Shoppe
1/4 cup Ener-G egg replacer
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon guar gum
3/4 cup cold water
Sugar Syrup:
1 & 1/2 cup raw sugar
1 tablespoon vegetarian gelatin
1/2 cup water
1 cup brown rice syrup
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. To make the marshmallow layer, mix the dry ingredients together first in a stand mixer. Add the water and whip with a whisk for 15 minutes until you get formed peaks and an increase in volume.
6. While the above is whipping, prepare the sugar syrup. Mix the veggie gelatin with the raw sugar in a saucepan. Add the water and whisk quickly. You should have a thick mixture. Add the brown rice syrup, stir and turn on heat on the stove. Use a candy thermometer and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 230 degrees. By this time, it should be thick and gloppy. The mixture will begin to gel as one large mass and you will be able to catch sight of the bottom of your pan as you stir. Hurry up and stop cooking! Stir in the vanilla.
7. Turn the stand mixer {with splatter shield in place} on high and whisk the fluff as you quickly add the sugar syrup. Add syrup quickly! The sugar gel is so sticky, it can climb up your whisk attachment and begin to gum up its connection to the mixer. Just dump it in with the mixer running as fast as it will go. Let whip for 10 minutes. Use a rubber scraper and pour the mixture into your prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the top of the marshmallow with more powdered sugar and cornstarch, covering the top completely. Let marshmallow set in the fridge for at least an hour.
8. When cool, use biscuit cutter to cut layers for cookie assembling. Alternate with the cookie and marshmallow, making a layer/s. Allow chocolate to set in the refrigerator while preparing the chocolate. Tape down wax paper on a large flat to prepare for coating them with chocolate.
Chocolate Coating:
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces cocoa butter, edible of course
9. Prepare the chocolate coating. Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate and cocoa butter together until completely smooth. Retrieve cookie-marshmallow layers from fridge and place them on a cooling rack on top of the wax papered surface. Spoon the melted chocolate over each cookie so that it runs down the sides and covers most of the cookie, gently pushing with the back of a spoon if need be. Allow scooter pies to set back in the refrigerator. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
10. Enjoy a delicious taste of your youth!
There is a little Indian convenience store next to my Sunday restaurant favorite, Dosa Diner, in Hicksville, Long Island. In this store you can find a ton of cheaply priced pantry staples, many aligned with Hindu vegetarianism. It is worth a stopping by– their products are tremendously cheaper than the very same items sold at significantly smaller net weights in health food stores with far less interesting packaging. Load up on exotic spices, lentils, oils, salts and amuse the store’s staff, who are very helpful. On my trip I bought some curry powder and some “Jelly” by Rafhan, a vegan “Jell-o” alternative. Though the Jelly was a bit liquidity, it held its own with a spoon. And the website from the Pakistani brand is an interesting read: Rafhan cornflour is extremely popular amongst housewives to make their soups, gravies and curry more thick hence more appetizing! Go housewives, go!
I used Jen’s Schmooed recipe for tofu “fish” sticks because I had a hankering for tartar sauce really. I love tartar sauce, especially this simple recipe, which gives me an ample amount of the white wonder. The baked sticks were good but next time I will fry them up, incorporating the dry ingredients into a batter. The next day the skins came off too easily. Along side, some sauteed kale with lots of garlic. There’s nothing like wilting down a big bunch of greens and watching the dusty dull green leaves brighten up. This will last me only two lunches unfortunately!
I had been meaning to return to Champs Family Bakery for some time now! Finally having a bit of cash in my wallet, I stopped in to treat myself. I picked up a lone cupcake for $2.75 to motivate me to walk home faster. It was a S’mores cupcake with a graham-ish cake base, vanilla buttercream, a piece of graham cracker and a Dandy. I am officially treated.
Listen Staples commericals and every Sunday newspaper circular: “It is still summer!” I cry out, grasping at every hour, every minute of my dwindling summer vacation.
So while it is still appropriate, homemade ice cream! I headed home to Long Island to try out Wheeler‘s Vegan Scoop chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with my Mom’s bright red Cuisinart soft serve ice cream maker. With the container of frozen cookie dough chunks being snacked on like popcorn, we needed the soy and coconut milk mixture to thicken up quickly! Haste, however, gave way to a delicious but slightly soupy ice cream littered with yummy gobs of cookie dough. A family-pleaser.
While I am on the fresh-made ice cream topic, here’s some from my recent visit to Austin. Vanilla ice cream (coconut milk-based of course) with chewy chunks of diced Sweet & Sara‘s marshmallows, pineapple fruit compote and chocolate chunks. So creamy! I don’t recommend stirring these marshmallows in to the churning machine. They have an awkward, gummy texture when exposed to the low temps. Maybe a sprinkle of them on top. Has anyone tried the Ricemellow in a ice cream maker?
I am going to try to milk the graduation thing much longer than today. Yeah, why the heck not? I’ll have it preemptively excuse my raucous behavior come Friday, when the official celebratory drinks are set, and use it to collect long complimentary comment strands on Facebook. I’ll accumulate kid-hugs from my class who are in the midst of their own educational cusp. And of course, graciously accept offers of my favorite foods from my Electrician, who understands that, to me, a dish is worth 1,000 words.
So post-ceremony, we picked up my favorite: Bone Shakers. Dressed like FBI agents, we were a bit out of place in the gritty bike cafe inhabited by the wireless huh-employed. I opted for the Rebel Cruiser, which I had never tried because the description reminded me of ‘Snice’s old barbecue seitan wrap which was dry and not too tasty. But, of course, Bone Shakers’s barbecue sauce-drenched tender seitan was amazing and the internal slaw, spot-on. The bread was a bit crispy but it add to the texture combination. Bone Shakers, you can do no wrong. Seriously.
Something in the baked goods display case caught my eye and was quickly added to the order. It was described as a creme brulee torte topped with chocolate ganache and marshmallows (the great Chicago SoyDairy‘s Dandies, no doubt). It was simply fabulous, tasting like a cross between a scooter-pie (an old non-vegan favorite of my childhood, a.k.a. moon pie) and a rich chocolate truffle. Not at all overly-sweet with a substantive and buoyant bite. Dandies were a perfect addition. Though perfect for sharing, I’ll have to share with myself later… maybe heating it up just a smidgen to blend all the yummy textures further. Here’s to being spoiled sweet.
With a generous contribution of ingredient mula from J. “Whoa Whoa Whoa” Roth and a pint of midnight oil, I whipped up 2 batches of vegan cupcakes (VCTOTW‘s basic vanilla with chocolate ganache and basic chocolate with buttercream) for Vegan Drinks‘ Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti. Said cupcakes were made after a full day of work and a full night of school. Here they are on the subway on my lap as I traveled to work, after the Electrician drove me safely to the subway and alleviated the need to transfer in rush hour with my little cakes and before CandyPenny picked them up from my job so I wouldn’t have to commute with them to and from my Morningside Heights campus.
Finally at Angels and Kings after yet another round of double-duty, CandyPenny’s and my cupcakes were tagged and priced and ready for mouth-mates. All in all, the baked goods raised $1,450 for animals in displaced by the horrific earthquake in Haiti. For more information, see SuperVegan’s blog posting here.
Nothing is more inviting at a sweet bake sale then a little bit of savory. Mini-pizzas were on sale along with stuffed “crawdaddy” veggies pockets to balance out your tastebuds.
So I got some real yummy cupcakes at the sale. A vegan version of Hostess’s famous cream-filled chocolate cupcakes and my favorite vanilla with chocolate frosting combo cupcake. There is something so endearing about home-made. I guess that helped the bar reel em in. The place was packed!
As well as a super-sweet and pretty pink-frosted vanilla. But phew, that was enough for me. With my 24 cupcake contribution and purchase of goods, I donated a total of $88! 
But Sunday, January 31 was a new day and it was time to attend yet another Vegan Bake Sale for Haiti! This time it was at Moo Shoes, New York City’s all-vegan shoe store, and it was just as an attendee. After a foundation of a big lunch a few blocks away, it was time for dessert.
And with a new day came a renewed taste for cupcakes! I started with a lovely chocolate and vanilla cupcake topped with sweet strawberry buttercream. 
Tables were loaded with a wide variety of vegan goodies including scones, peanut brittle, cookies, chocolates, Sweet & Sara marshmallow hearts, Babycakes, many flavors of cupcakes, dog treats, brownies, biscotti, bars, dried fruit, home-made granolas, etc. There was also a raffle in the back and plenty of space to peruse Moo Shoes’s awesome selection of footwear. On-hand as well to round out the afternoon, complimentary copies of Bust magazine.
Public service, with manners.
I had some unfinished business in the Pacific Northwest. And by business I mean vegan food to eat. This time I flew into Seattle only to head straight to Portland, Oregon, thee vegan capital of the country. But after a long transatlantic flight, we weren’t going to make it all the way to Portland without something to tide us over. Luckily Olympia, Washington had an amazing hot dog stand with vegan options and a ton of free toppings! They had vegan-only equipment too. Olympia Hot Dog Company was a great find and the perfect remedy for our Eastern Standard hunger. I had the vegan beer brat, loaded with sauerkraut, relish, olives, ketchup and mustard. We also found an amazing spice house where we bought exotic salts that made our entire trip smell like an applewood campfire. 
So our real lunch destination was Portobello Vegan Trattoria, Portland’s delicious Mediterranean-inspired cafe. This is one classy place with a damngood seasonal menu of fresh Northwest vegan grub. We picked the Chao cheese ball (made by Field Roast, we later discovered) with a baguette and some of the most scrumptious apples I ever did taste. For the main event, I ordered the portobello steak with crispy polenta and Swiss chard. My dish was perfection and the half portion is more than enough. Presentation, texture and taste at a community-conscious eatery. Well done, Portobello!
The following afternoon it was Vita Cafe. I chose the Fishwich, as I am a sucker for deep-fried and tartar sauce. The thick slab of tofu “fish” was fried to a crispy perfection and not at all greasy. Add a dollop of tartar and a soft bun and you got a very pleasing sandwich indeed, one of the freshest and tastiest of the greasy spoon genre. Our side was one of their corn cakes: sliced banana, ginger and cilantro corn cake with a coconut milk dipping sauce. It was very good but mismatched to our meals. I snapped a pic of their desserts although we had to decline, saving ourselves for the vegan strip mall.
Next up had to be the vegan mini-mall on Stark street. Sweetpea Baking Company, where I had my official birthday cupcake, was far more dry and sweet than I recall. Food Fight Vegan Grocery is always a great stop. There we stared at huge bags of Daiya and bought some vegan snacks and knick-knacks, like the Sweet & Sara halloween marshmallow ghost, some vegan nougat and some B-12 bubble gum.
One Lucky Duck juice and takeaway is Pure Food & Wine‘s to-go counter. Like PF&W, the high-end raw joint, One Lucky Duck is all raw but the focus is on sweet treats, quick juices and snacks. And much like the slew of eateries doing this type of thing (Candle 79/Candle Cafe, Blossom/Cafe Blossom, that Zen Palate on 9th Avenue, etc.), what you lose in ambiance you gain in your wallet. Several of PF&W’s signature dishes, like the zucchini and tomato lasagna, are available at One Lucky Duck for about 5$ cheaper. One Lucky Duck also has sweet nut milks, house-made kombucha, falafel, sushi and some great-sounding salads. My mission, however, was a bit lower brow.
I needed to try their raw Mallomar. Yes, a vegan raw version of them nostalgic chocolate-covered marshmallow cookies. One Lucky Duck’s version was delectable: dark raw chocolate coating atop sweet, soft white heavenly dollop of the same lord knows what in PF&W’s $15 sundae… over a crunchy cookie. Texture and taste work in perfect harmony for a decadent raw dessert. Good show, good show!
I had never been to a Vegan Drinks event before although the event, held monthly at the East Village’s Angels & Kings, has graced my calendar plenty of times since they started in May of 2008. As soon as I heard this month’s social gathering of like-minded veg-friendlies would include free Sweet & Sara‘s vegan marshmallows, I knew this was the perfect time for the first time.
Walking in to tables of free Sweet & Sara’s was almost dreamlike. All her delicious flavors were there, including her S’mores and rocky road bark. CandyPenny, my p-i-c, and I tried to remain calm. We had stormed vegan tastings and events plenty of times before… from the mind-blowing Boston Vegetarian Food Festival to the mysterious Wheeler’s ice cream tasting, from SuperVegan‘s birthday at S’nice to Natural Gourmet and ThanksLiving buffet lines, to name just a few. Together we’ve shimmied in lines for free eats that more so resembled mosh pits, steadfast in our goal. We’ve dined vegan across this great country, from corner to corner, and traveled hours for the lone reward of a satiated appetite. So… it was to our surprise that these tables were not thee priority of the group of attendees, that we could stand leisurely and gape at the piles of perfect little confections all we wanted.
Somewhere between my 10th marshmallow and my second conversation with a vegan who didn’t cook at all, I realized that I more identified with being a vegan foodie than a vegan: that after 12 years of being vegan, my convictions have remained static, strong and unwavering. But it is my love of vegan food that has dynamimcally flourished… and that this has carried me through my journey, working in tandem with my passion for animal rights. Hmmm, I wonder what I’ll learn next time?
Vegan Reporting By Location
