Substance? Boy, are you in the wrong place. Nothing but fluff here. Marshmallow Fluff, to be precise; a creamy American confection with all the culinary credentials of Cool Whip.
But so what?
Come along as we enter a world where all is white and light and sweet and sticky, a paradise of soft texture and sugary flavor. No, this is not Heaven. This is a different kind of Great Reward. This is Fluff.
Oh, sorry. It’s easy to get carried away when Halloween approacheth with its bags of goodies. This is the season of over-the-top sugar consumption and fetishistic candy preferences, so what’s wrong with indulging an appreciation for a food product that seems like it was created by–not just for–kindergartners?
This is the stuff: Packed in glass jars, the spread has a texture like the inside of a marshmallow that’s been toasted ju-u-u-st long enough to turn golden. People have been known to eat it straight from the jar, but it’s been put to use more often in a marshmallow fudge named for Mamie Eisenhower (alternatively called Never-Fail Fudge), or in a sandwich fit for a king (if you’re Elvis, that is) called the Fluffernutter. White bread, Marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter. What’s not to like, especially if you don’t have teeth?
“I grew up with Fluffernutter sandwiches; they’re the classic,” says Carolyn Wyman, a junk food authority (really–she has a syndicated newspaper column!) and author of “Spam: A Biography.”
“At the school I went to in Rhode Island, your Fluffernutter people and your peanut butter and jelly people were about equal in number. You have to have it on white bread. It has to squish down in your lunch box. You can make a Fluffernutter that can practically not be seen by a microscope.”
Wyman credits the kid-friendly appeal of Fluff to its blandness, as much as its sugar.
“And best of all, it’s sticky!” she says. “It has the potential to create a real mess.”
Boy, does it ever. Pictures of children covered in the stuff are posted on the Web site of Durkee-Mower, the company that makes Fluff.
That, in small part, may contribute to the “couple of million pounds” of Fluff sold at this time of year, according to Donald Durkee, company president and son of one of the founders. The rest goes into candymaking, particularly the fudgy kind, which heats up during the holidays. The Lynn, Mass., company, which has been around since 1917, is still a small operation with only 21 full-time employees; Durkee says they sometimes have trouble keeping up with the demand.
That the company is so old is sort of surprising, especially since Fluff seems like it is a totally artificial and purely modern foodstuff. (Marshmallow Fluff turns out to be perfectly natural, by the way. Look at the ingredient list: corn syrup, sugar, dried egg white and vanillin. No scary ingredients. Just food as God intended it to be eaten.)
But marshmallow creams and spreads have been used by cooks since at least the beginning of the last century.
Jan Longone, director of the Wine & Food Library in Ann Arbor, Mich., keeps what she calls “culinary ephemera,” which includes old-time food advertisements, inserts and recipe books from manufacturers. In her stash are pamphlets that date to 1920 with marshmallow cream recipes, some of them originating from leading chefs of the day.
Some contemporaries of Fluff back then included Marshmallow Whip, whose booklet, in its second printing in 1920, features a picture of a woman holding a cake frosted with marshmallow cream. Suggestions for using the product include blancmange, apple roly-poly and “Mother’s prune pudding.”
The Marshmallow Whip company, based in Philadelphia, touted the Whip as being good for desserts “in any single instance where whipped cream could be used with just as good results. If any one knows of an exception to this rule we should be glad to hear of it.”
Campfire Marshmallow spread, out of Chicago, offered recipes from chefs including those at the Palmer House and the Lake Shore Drive Hotel. The Boston-based Cloverdale brand offered recipes for pineapple dandy and marshmallow ice cream in a pre-World War II package insert.
And Durkee-Mower, the Marshmallow Fluff people, had their very own “Yummy Book” of recipes; the 1947 version assures consumers that the product, which “removes easily from the jar, spreads smoothly, has a mild flavor and will not dry or harden,” is made in “sanitary, sunny daylight kitchens” at the plant.
These days, only two companies make the marshmallow spread, Durkee-Mower and Kraft, which makes Marshmallow Creme.
Other convenience foods, such as packaged cake frosting and aerosol cans of whipped cream, have since replaced marshmallow spread’s versatility in the kitchen. And homemade fudge has been largely nudged aside by baked goods in the gift-giving and bake sale sweepstakes. Marshmallow itself isn’t exactly at the top of the candy hall of fame, competing with chocolate bars and caramel chews and one nut thing after another.
But if you had to live with some candy forever–OK, let’s say you had to go to your eternal resting place entombed with the stuff–what could be more dreamy than floating on a cloud of Fluff?
Makes you drowsy just thinking about it. Now that’s comfort.
To make ice cream topping:
Place a small quantity of Fluff in a bowl, then slowly add warm water while mixing with a fork. Or, place 4 heaping tablespoons of Fluff and 3 tablespoons of water in a microwave-safe container, then microwave on high for 15 seconds. Remove and stir. Pour over chocolate, coffee or strawberry ice cream.
To make the famous Fluffernutter sandwich:
Take two slices of white bread, as soft and processed as possible. Spread one with peanut butter, the other with Fluff. Smoosh together and serve. Creative types can add sliced bananas to the sandwich.
Fluff conversion
1 tablespoon Marshmallow Fluff = 1 marshmallow
One 7 1/2-ounce jar = about 2 1/2 cups Fluff or 32 marshmallows
One 16 1/2-ounce tub = about 5 cups or 5 1/2 dozen marshmallows
Marshmallow cream `has the potential to create a real mess.’
— Carolyn Wyman
S’MORES FONDUE
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yield: 4 cups, about 10 servings
This, dish, developed in the Tribune test kitchen, is great for a party. If you don’t have a fondue pot, a regular bowl will do, but eat fast while it is still warm.
1 1/2 cups milk
1 bag (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups marshmallow spread
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 each: red apples, green apples, sliced
1. Heat milk in medium saucepan until just simmering. Remove from heat. Add chips; let stand 1 minute. Stir until melted. Whisk in marshmallow spread.
2. Pour into fondue pot, if you wish; keep warm. Place graham cracker crumbs in serving bowl. Dip apple slices into warm chocolate mixture; dip into graham cracker crumbs.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories ………… 330 Fat ……….. 12 g Saturated fat … 7 g
% calories from fat .. 32 Cholesterol … 3 mg Sodium ……. 105 mg
Carbohydrates …… 57 g Protein …… 3.6 g Fiber ……… 4.6 g
WHOOPIE PIES
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Yield: 15 pies
These chocolate “pies” (really, cream-filled cake sandwiches) are a real country recipe, often sold at farm stands and county fairs.
2 cups unsifted flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
Filling:
2 cups marshmallow spread
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring, optional
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in bowl; set aside. Combine milk and vanilla in measuring cup; set aside. Beat egg and oil in bowl of electric mixer until combined.
2. Add sugar to egg-oil mixture; beat until pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Add flour and milk mixtures alternately to egg mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Drop about 1 tablespoon of the batter onto greased cookie sheets, 2 inches apart. Bake until top springs back lightly when touched, 5-7 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.
4. For filling, combine marshmallow spread, confectioners’ sugar, butter and vanilla in bowl of electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Blend in food coloring, if desired. Spread filling between 2 cake halves to make sandwich.
Nutrition information per pie:
Calories ………… 295 Fat ……….. 12 g Saturated fat .. 4.9 g
% calories from fat .. 36 Cholesterol .. 30 mg Sodium …….. 145 mg
Carbohydrates …… 45 g Protein …….. 3 g Fiber ………… 1 g
MARSHMALLOW FUDGE
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Cooling time: 2 hours
Yield: 70 pieces
This recipe, with slight variations, dates back a few generations and goes by many names: Mamie Eisenhower’s fudge, million-dollar fudge and never-fail fudge. By any name, it’s a can’t-miss confection for the kids.
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 ounces each, chopped: semi sweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate
3 cups chopped walnuts
2 cups marshmallow spread
1. Heat sugar, milk, butter and salt in medium saucepan over medium heat until smooth and very hot, about 4 minutes. Combine semisweet and bittersweet chocolate, walnuts and marshmallow spread in large mixing bowl; add to warm milk mixture. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is combined.
2. Pour fudge into greased 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Let cool 2 hours at room temperature before cutting.
Nutrition information per piece:
Calories ………… 145 Fat …………. 6 g Saturated fat … 2 g
% calories from fat .. 36 Cholesterol .. 1.3 mg Sodium …….. 13 mg
Carbohydrates …… 23 g Protein ……. 2.1 g Fiber ……… 0.6 g
