Monday 27 July 2009

July and My Mallow Battle

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

This months challenge really proved to be a challenge. Vegan marshmallows are something which I have tried many times and have been developing a recipe for some time. However there is always something which isn't quite right; the mallow doesn't set, it all gloopy etc. This time I came extremely close but still my mallow was a bit soft. I think this could also be to do with the fact that I use fruit sugar in my cooking rather than traditional cane sugar so the properties of the foods are altered even further. But I gave it a good bash and hey it tasted delicious.

The mallow recipe:

5 tsps agar flakes
1/2 cup warm water (not quite boiling)
2 tsps arrowroot
3/4 cups fruit sugar
1tsp vanilla (or other flavouring)
5 tbsps soy protein isolate powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsps cream of tartar
1 cup water
3tsps ener-g with 4 tbsps of ice cold water, whisked together

1. Soak the agar in the warm water for around 30 mins. Dust a pan with some corn flour or other similar light flour.
2. Simmer in a saucepan until dissolved.
3. Add in fruit sugar and arrowroot stir until dissolved, continue simmering. Mixture will thicken so keep an eye on it. Add in vanilla.
4. Meanwhile, with an electric beater whisk up the soy powder with the water, this should resemble a butter cream consistency so add more water if necessary but don't be too liberal.
5. Continue mixing and add in the cream of tartar and bicarb until stiff and fluffy. Then add in the ener-g mix.
6. If agar mix is now thick and gloopy, gradually poor into your fluffy mix while beating. Contine for another 10-15 mins. You want the mix to be as stiff as you can without the agar gelling together.
7. Pour mix into your pan, spread and dust with more flour. Leave to cool.

I made two different flavours:

Gooseberry and Blackcurrant, with vegan dark chocolate and mixed nuts

Spiced apricot and Redcurrant, with vegan milk chocolate and cinnamon.









8 comments:

  1. Gooseberry and Blackcurrant, with vegan dark chocolate and mixed nuts

    Spiced apricot and Redcurrant, with vegan milk chocolate and cinnamon.

    Yummy and O so delish. I'm impressed vegan marshmallow is so so hard to make. Remember to bottle the recipe when you work it out it is worth gold and I mean real gold. Cheers from Audax in Australia.

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  2. NOTHING wrong with soft marshmallow..that's the only way I like them..or toasted :) Lovely job!

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  3. Check out:

    http://veganmarshmallows.blogspot.com

    It is the most complete source on vegan marshmallows and recipes. You might find some helpful tips on there...

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  4. I'm impressed! The mallows were a battle for me and I wasn't even trying to make them vegan :D

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  5. Your flavors sound great. The look really yummy too. I love the piping you did for your marshmallows.

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  6. That's quite something. I don't see why soft marshmallow shouldn't work here.
    Your cookies sound great with those flavour combinations. Yum.

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  7. Wow!! Your cookies look perfect =D. I love the flavours you chose - they sound divine! Great job with the vegan marshmallows!

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  8. You did extremely well by trying to make your own vegan marshmallow and it looks really good. Congratulations!

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