Unicorn Love

February 19, 2017

Valentine’s Day has come and gone but Unicorn Day is forever! Valentine’s love is fleeting and made of cheap flowers and dusty stuffed toys. Unicorn love, though, is full of true emotions and brings plenty of happy adventures.

I’m pro-raw feelings, authentic laughter, tasting all the colors of the rainbow, spinning words into endless conversations, being strange, celebrating your unique weirdness, getting lost in a constellation of my own creation, wrapping up the Universe as your next birthday gift, believing that all the impossible things are more real than reality itself…

I know… But, don’t you also believe in Unicorns?! Everything that has ever been invented or thought of had already existed on the energy level and was brought up to life (again) by the power of imagination.

You can say I’m crazy. I won’t even argue. Or you can say I’m afflicted by sugar, alcohol and not enough sleep: I went to a party yesterday where some of today’s dessert were making a grand appearance, after being carefully injected with single vodka shots; I used all my surgical precision to distribute alcohol evenly inside without ruining the outer shells. We had too many desserts (shots) yesterday, didn’t get to bed till almost dawn. Yes, I’m definitely afflicted today, with Unicorn Love.

Dive into the fluffiness of Unicorn magic and definitely make the today’s recipe!

What’s Cooking This Week

Zefir, or zefyr (pronounced zefeer) is a traditional Russian dessert that reminds of a harder meringue-like outer shell and fluffy marshmallow-like center. It’s soft, sugary and full of childhood memories. This dessert doesn’t require baking, not in a traditional sense that you’d expect with a meringue, but it does involve pouring hot liquids into whipped egg whites, which technically cooks them, so, do not fear that you’ll be eating raw eggs. Zefir requires at least 8-10 hours resting, to harden the shell, so plan on making it the night before if you need it for some kind of an event. I’m adding strawberry flavor here, you can substitute it for any other you want. Zefir keeps well on a countertop, just make sure to place it in an air tight container to preserve freshness. After it’s made, you can leave it plain and sprinkle extra powdered sugar or dip it in chocolate. Either way, it’s absolutely delicious!

Strawberry-Rum Zefir – Marshmallow Meringues.

Makes 40-60 zefir halves, size depending

5 egg whites, room temperature

1 3 oz box of strawberry jell-o

3 1/2 cups of sugar

3 Tbsps of rum

3 tsps. of agar agar flakes

1 cup of cold water

3 oz of boiling water

powdered sugar

optional: melted dark chocolate and edible rose petals

tools: large disposable frosting bags, open-star piping tips

Mix together jell-o powder with 3 oz hot water till it’s completely dissolved, set it aside.

Separate egg whites, or used whites liquid, place them into a large mixing bowl and start whipping at a medium speed.

At the same time, in a pot, combine 1 cup of water with agar powder and heat it up on medium heat stirring constantly. Once it’s boiling, gradually start adding sugar mixing through, continue boiling for another 2-3 minutes till it becomes a thick mixture.

Reduce egg whites whipping speed to low and carefully pour in hot sugar agar mixture, continue whipping, then add dissolved jell-o and rum. Pick up the whipping speed to high and whip until stiff peaks appear.

While it’s whipping, prepare piping bags. I suggest using large bags with open star tips and prepare 2 as you’ll have to pipe very quickly before the mixture sets in and is too hard to pipe. Line baking sheets with plastic wrap.

Fill each bag with mixture and pipe large rose-like flowers about 2.5-3 inches in size. Once all rosettes are piped, sprinkle all with powdered sugar. Zefir needs to air-dry for at least 8-10 hours to let the harder outer shell to set (do not cover it).