This past Wednesday was our fifth session of The
Gastronomica Forum, centered around everyone’s favorite Marshmallow Crème: Fluff!
Not only did we have a rousing discussion
of fluff history, lore, and anti vs. pro fluff legislation, but we enjoyed many
a fluff-themed snack and, best of all, a fluff cocktail! I was happily assigned the vital task of
developing the recipe for said cocktail, which turned out to be no simple
matter. I’ve mixed up a few drinks in my
day, but can’t say that I’ve ever considered how one might incorporate marshmallow
(a straight up mysteriously textured solid) into booze.
I contemplated a few approaches. A classic Sidecar, the coupe rimmed with
fluff instead of sugar? An artistic
drizzle of fluff in the glass of a chocolate martini? A
fluff ‘cloud’ floating atop a gin rickey?
Those all seemed tough to execute.
Fluff, as we all well know, is mostly sticky and inflexible, and doesn’t
take well to drizzling. Even when
microwaved, as I discovered whilst experimenting, it only expands into a
bizarre mushroom cloud over the top of the jar, but doesn’t really melt down
enough to be easy to work with.
Finally I settled on using the fluff mostly for body,
texture (much the way mixologists in the know use egg whites) and subtle
sweetness by blending it up with some Marachino Liqueur, which I then mixed into
a twist on the classic gin-based drink, the Aviation. The result was somewhat reminiscent of Sweet
Tarts, but was also floral, interesting, and downright delicious (although,
after a few minutes of resting in the glass the fluff did sort of separate in a
manner that was fairly disturbing. Lucky
for me they seemed to be consumed before anyone could notice this tiny
detail!).
I know you’re all dying to serve this at your next bbq, so
here’s the recipe:
Thin fluff down with Maraschino (I used the Luxardo brand)
until it’s the consistency of a very thick simple syrup by whisking the two
together. It will take some patience for
the fluff to fully dissolve.
2 oz Gin (I used Plymouth)
½ oz Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Fluff/Maraschino Syrup
¼ oz Creme de Violette
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with
ice. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds and
pour into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist, or a dollop of
Fluff, if you can handle it. Enjoy.