With the easy work done, it was time to start work on the Frankenberry Crumble, the only idea I was able to take from the source material. I decided to try a variant of strawberry crumble, but replacing some of the flour and oats of the crust with Frankenberry cereal pieces and integrating the marbits in with the filling.
The filling came together very easily. The strawberries and marbits mixed together well enough, and there didn't seem to be any problems when mixing in the spices.
Now, of course, I had to separate the marbits from the cereal for this recipe. It might be an easy task, but it's terribly time-consuming. I must have spent half an hour pouring over a bowl of Frankenberries, picking out the marshmallow pieces and setting them aside to get this idea to work. Absolutely mind-numbing, but I have a feeling that in the end, it will all be worth it.
The crust was a bit more problematic. I had to cut in butter to achieve that 'crumble' texture, and the size of the cereal pieces didn't work well when it came time to mix everything together. It took a little bit of extra work, but eventually everything came together.
The whole mess got mixed together, and thrown in the oven for about half an hour while I cleaned up. The smell of strawberries coming from the oven was intense. The cereal seemed to be absorbing some of the juice from the fruit, resulting in larger-sized flavor nuggets (this is about the only time the word 'nugget' can be used in the context of food without it being absolutely disgusting, and even then it doesn't really sound all the appetizing).
When it was done, I pulled it out of the oven to cool in all it's warm, crispy, bubbly goodness. Awww yeah.
Finally, it was time to begin the last of the food experiments. I would be making strawberry shortcake, but using Frankenberry in the cake. I decided to try creating a variant of the recipe that used small biscuits instead of a cake, since that seemed to be the best way to integrate the two parts together.
I started out making a dough, but replaced some of the flour with powdered Frankenberry that I had previously removed the marbits from. The end result was a slightly rough-textured dough that was bright pink.
Back when Frankenberry was first created in the early 70s, a whole bunch of parents got freaked out when their kids started shitting in red and pink. These are not colors that you want to see in your stool, and the kids were rushed into hospitals and doctor's offices to check for internal bleeding. It turned out that the original pink dye that Frankenberry used didn't break down during digestion, and passed through the body in the same color that it entered as. Doctors called the phenomenon Frankenberry Stool. Unfortunately, General Mills soon changed the dye so it would stop giving parents heart attacks. Still works great in cooking though!
Once the dough was given a bit of time to settle, I started to kneed and roll it out, and then using the neck of a mason jar, I cut small biscuits out and placed them on a tray. Afterwards, I threw the tray in the oven for about ten minutes while I cleaned up and played with some of the left over dough.
The biscuits came out fine, except for one problem. The cereal had messed with the dough's ability to rise, so instead of a fluffy biscuit, I now had something that resembled a moderately hard cookie. It's a bit of a set back, so I'll need to figure out a way to salvage this.
Now the cooking was done and it was time to plate these wondrous creations. After all, it's one thing to defy the very laws of nature by creating deserts out of super-sweetened marshmallow-filled breakfast cereal. It's another thing entirely to make it look good when you're done.
First up, the Frankenberry Crispy Treats. I cut a small wedge out of one of my cereal treat fake breasts, shedding a small tear as the knife went down, and placed it on a plate. Magnificent. Now, it's time to take a bite.
Although they have the consistency of a Rice Krispies treat, they're a bit chewier. It's more like a granola bar, especially with the small unmelted marbits inside. The flavor is incredible. They have a slightly tart, sweet, fruity flavor, more like strawberry flavored candy than strawberries themselves.
Secondly, the Frankenberry Crumble. Truth be told, this was the one I was probably worried the most about. It looked ok and it smelled ok, but there was just something about it that was unsettling. I plopped a small portion on a plate, and it too was perfect as is.
Although the top crust was a little soggier than I would like, The rest was just perfect. The flavor of the strawberries and the cereal mingled perfectly together and the bottom crust was solid and very tasty. Before I take this to the D&D game on Saturday, I'll probably throw this back in the oven for a few minutes to crisp the top up a bit and heat up the middle. I have a feeling that this is going to be this year's favorite.
Finally, the Frankenberry Shortcake. The biscuits didn't really rise, and I was left with something that was more of a cookie. This definitely needed to be dressed up. I ended up cutting up a couple of strawberries and arranging them in a pattern around and on top of the biscuit, and then dressed that up with a little whipped cream. The result could only be described as a 'friggin work of art'.
The shortcake had the texture of a cookie and crumbled a bit, but it too was tasty. Not too sweet at all, which allowed the strawberries to add something to them without being overpowering. I ended up dipping the shortcake in the whipped cream to get a bit of a 'cookies in milk' thing going on. This is a little fussier, so I'll probably forgo the elaborate presentation later on.
Finally, after all that work, I'm done. And my reward? A kick-ass little sign for my door to keep the one I got last year company.
And now, I'll be able to have a nice bowl of cereal.
Well, I guess there's nothing to do now but try to find some Booberry for next year.
