Kavi made this for me for…Mother’s Day? Something not so long ago. Very kid-friendly recipe.
I’ll note that you can totally use vegetarian gelatin for this. I haven’t been able to get vegetarian gelatin to set well enough for actual marshmallows yet, but it works fine for fluff.
I’m not sure how to make it vegan — I’d need a substitute for the Cool Whip, which has skimmed milk in it. I’m guessing you can whip coconut milk? I should try that sometime soon; if I can, then I can include it in the Vegan Serendib cookbook.
Jed’s kitchen is pretty well set up for everyday cooking, but he did not own a candy thermometer, so we picked one up — and I really like this one! It has added labels for a lot of different things you’d be likely to use it for, like melting chocolate or optimal deep frying temperature, and bracketed color bars to help you keep track. Nice.
One of the nerve-wracking things about cooking in someone else’s kitchen is what if they don’t actually have the tools you need — even something as simple as a bowl and a hand mixer. Jed did not own a hand mixer, which was sort of funny to me, because I’ve had one since college; it was one of the first kitchen tools I bought, I think to make cakes? $20 and it lasted me a good 20 years, so a pretty decent investment. 🙂 I also wasn’t sure he had a bowl big enough to whip marshmallows, but thankfully, yes, this is plenty large enough. Whew.
Pouring in the mango puree and the lime juice. Roshani has a preferred brand of mango puree, and I was standing in the grocery store, trying to remember which it was, and I just couldn’t remember. The one I got was marked Alphonso mango puree — is that the right one? I think she said not Kesar….
Whipping up the mango marshmallow…
So listen, I’m sure you can make mango fluff with whipped heavy cream instead of Cool Whip, and someday I’ll try it just to confirm, but for those of you who are being a smidge elitist and kitchen snooty about my Cool Whip choice here, I’ll just say that this is how my Amma made her mango fluff, and there’s really nothing more to be said there, right? RIGHT? 🙂
Mango fluff all done, although if I get a chance to cut up some fresh mango and use it to decorate the top I will — there’s crushed pineapple in there already, but fresh mango will make it a) tastier and b) prettier.
It’s also a little disconcerting not having all my pretty serveware, but I’m cooking at Jed’s and then transiting up to Alex and Christa’s, so I decided that foil trays really were the better part of valor here. I’m sure they have some pretty serveware I can use, but since I have to transport anyway, foil trays are just practical as heck. This is more of a family party than a formal party.
Sautéed shallots with fresh green curry leaves. So nice being able to just walk into grocery stores and buy fresh curry leaves now! (At least in Chicago and the Bay Area…)
