Knowledge Base › Fran Costigan - The Great Thanksgiving Dessert Debate

My family loves sweet potato casserole. I would love to have a plant-based marshmallow topping. What is a good substitute? I've heard of aqua faba but not sure what/how to make it.

The Great Thanksgiving Dessert Debate

Fran Costigan - The Great Thanksgiving Dessert Debate

Recorded

This event was on November 19, 2024

Are Thanksgiving desserts best when they stick to tradition, or is it time to shake things up with some trendy twists? Join Chef Fran Costigan, Rouxbe Director of Vegan Pastry for a lively discussion where exploring the timeless classics and the modern spins on your favorite Thanksgiving sweets. Of course, in Fran’s kitchen, whether traditional or less so, all her desserts will be vegan-- that is dairy, egg and white sugar free and satisfying to all. Sign up and send in your questions.

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Question

Adam O'Connor

My family loves sweet potato casserole. I would love to have a plant-based marshmallow topping. What is a good substitute? I've heard of aqua faba but not sure what/how to make it.

Answer

Adam, who doesn't love sweet potato casserole? First of all, I don't know where you are in the world, but there is, there are vegan marshmallows available that are delicious and you should be able to find them where you are. Uh, the brand is dandy. D-A-N-D-I-E-S. They come small, they come really large now too, so you could certainly do that. Aquafaba is like, I love to make aquafaba, it's just fun. So, and this is one of the assignments in the course is to whip aquafaba and make a baked Alaska. If you're using aquafaba, if there's anybody here who doesn't know what it is, it's essentially chickpea liquid. It's the liquid that chickpeas were cooked in. If you're using a can of chickpeas, you drain it. Every can's a little different. We reduce it by about a third to a half a cup, chill it and then whip it as you would egg whites with a little bit of cream of tartar the acid and then start adding sugar. And unlike whipping egg whites, you don't really have to worry about over whipping aquafaba. Every time I say that, I get a little nervous because, you know, never say never, but it takes a, it takes a while to whip and it's really fabulous, really fabulous.

Fran Costigan

Director of Vegan Pastry

FranCostigan.com

Fran Costigan is internationally renowned as the authority on vegan desserts. Trained at the New York Restaurant School and Natural Gourmet Institute, Fran was a chef in both traditional and vegan pastry kitchens before moving into teaching over 20 years ago. A lifelong chocoholic and long time vegan, Fran’s latest book, Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy Free Desserts, (Running Press 2013) is for all who madly, deeply love chocolate desserts, whether or not dietary considerations are an issue. Her previous cookbook, More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally (Book Publishing Company 2006) is the basis of the Costigan Vegan Baking Boot Camp Intensive®. For more information, www.francostigan.com.