Knowledge Base > Fran Costigan - Fran's 9th Annual Valentines Spectacular
Fran Costigan - Fran's 9th Annual Valentines Spectacular
This event was on
Tuesday, February 11, 2025 at 1:00 pm Pacific, 4:00 pm Eastern
Join renowned pastry chef Fran Costigan, Rouxbe’s Director of Vegan Pastry, for her 9th annual Valentine’s Day Spectacular, a live event celebrating indulgent-tasting plant-based des… Read More.
Question:
Is there a difference between the types of thickening agents such as Arrowroot & Corn Starch? Can they be used interchangeably? Does the amt need to be adjusted when switching?
— Anna Marie Trotman
Answer:
They both are generally used as a slurry, which means you dissolve them in some liquid before you start. Not always, however, they are not interchangeable. And that has to do with in most cases and that has to do with the cooking time. Um, one of my favorite recipes and a very popular recipe is my almost instant chocolate pudding. And cornstarch has to be used to make that recipe. If you use arrow root, it gets like stringy, slimy. So you need cornstarch arrow root thickens just under the boil. If you keep cooking it, it will thin out. Cornstarch has to cook for about one minute. Now one of my students who cannot have corn and I used non GMO organic cornstarch from Edwards and Sun, um, she can't have corn. And she told me that she used potato star and it worked really, really well.
