“What is this stuff?” White, fluffy, and painfully sweet, Marshmallow Fluff is something a lot of people have only heard of and not tasted. I’ve tasted it once when a kid I knew used to bring Marshmallow Fluff and white bread sandwiches to school. You’re counting the nutrients in that lunch, aren’t you? Not until I Googled the product did I realize that “The Fluffernutter” exists. It’s a real ‘thing.’ Though it sounds like something straight out of a porn set, it’s actually a peanut butter and Fluff sandwich.
Pastry Chef and Chocolatier, Sophie Andrade, of Cava Restaurant and sweet shop, XOCOCAVA, had never seen or heard of Marshmallow Fluff. Working with chef Chris MacDonald, has taught her to experiment with “crazy and funky flavours. Chef has a great palate.” Her traditional Portuguese childhood didn’t include this multi-purpose marshmallow spread. But her training in the kitchen and making chocolates and sweets offsets all of that. She created a Marshmallow Fluff roulade (think of a rolled sponge cake like a Swiss Roll). Never mind that I misheard and thought she said remoulade — an often mayo-based condiment. Likely not made better with the addition of marshmallow.
Sophie started with a thin chocolate sponge cake, spread a layer of nice, blindingly white creamy Marshmallow Fluff on top, followed by a layer of Skippy peanut butter, “keeping it dirty”, said Sophie, then a sprinkling of whole peanuts for texture and crunch and a flecks of Maldon salt.
Chilled in the fridge for a few hours, then sliced, Sophie makes a good thing better with house-made vanilla ice cream and caramelized bananas. You can’t pack much more goodness into a dessert log. It’s ghetto, it’s retro, it’s messy and as Sophie said, “this is one dirrrrrty dessert.”
As the talent behind 25 different flavoured truffles like black olive, Spanish coffee, and salted caramel, and a selection of special Valentine’s Day sweets, Sophie knows how to satisfy those who seek quality desserts. But sometimes, we just need something a little dirty at the end of a meal.
Follow chef and co-owner of XOCOCAVA Chis MacDonald on Twitter @CavaChef
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