SIMPLICITY IS THE BEST TREAT
For years — decades even — most cookbooks were of a general nature. The recipes contained in their pages covered a wide range of dishes, ingredients and techniques.
The Joy of Cooking, as an example, or Julia Child’s beloved Mastering the Art of French Cooking, are both among those that have stood the test of time. Even today, general cookbooks fill many bookshelves.
But there also has been a shift toward the single- subject cookbook that highlights but one ingredient or technique.
Given the nature of cookbook publishing — it seems to be that many people still clamour for an actual book that can be physically flipped through, marked and stained through use — this isn’t surprising. The subject matter of these books, on the other hand, can be. I’ve had many land on my desk, ones on quinoa and ramen, even Jell- O- style desserts.
But Treat ( Clarkson Potter/ Publishers) takes the cake. Or the crispy- rice- cereal- marshmallow bar, as the case may be.
It never would have occurred to me that “no- bake marshmallow treats” — which, of course, are known by a much better, far- more trademarked name that I’m not going to use here — would benefit from any adulteration. I have publicly admitted numerous times that I get weirdly strong cravings for these bars. Nostalgia plays a part, no doubt. My stepdad also seemed to get cravings for them when I was growing up and would make pans of treats that would be chilled and ready by the time we kids got home from school. But the craving also comes from the satisfying and simple combination of crunchy, crispy cereal and chewy, gooey melted marshmallows.
Stephanie Banyas clearly feels differently, having come up with 50 recipes for these treats that range from a Cookies & Cream version to a Berry Cobbler one — not to mention four recipes for making marshmallows to be melted down and mixed with the crispy rice cereal.
This isn’t her first foray into book publishing; she’s coauthored eight cookbooks with celebrity chef Bobby Flay, for whom she has worked as a business assistant for nearly 20 years. Those books were all more general in purpose, so Treat seems to be a departure.
Departure is also a good word to describe many of the recipes. Mixing in bits and bobs or topping with melted chocolate seems a natural leap for these bars; transforming them into the base for a cheesecake with real berries on top is a step too far. At that point, why not just make cheesecake?
I did like the idea of using real vanilla bean, as Banyas calls for in her Twenty- First Century Treats, or browning the butter to add a nutty flavour. And I really liked the idea of toasting the marshmallows under a broiler for a flavour that echoes of roasting them over a campfire.
There was some childlike glee, too, that came from thinking about shoving a tray spread with a lot of marshmallows under the high heat of the broiler and watching them become golden- tinged in just moments. That part was as fun as hoped.
Gently adding the broiled marshmallows into the rest of those melted on the stove and then folding in the cereal, though, made those bronzed flecks disappear completely into the mix. The flavour also vanished in the wake of heavy vanilla — which was by no means unappealing, just perplexing, as it seemed to cancel out all the extra effort of broiling some of the marshmallows.
I did like how reining in the amount of stirring in an effort to keep some of that toasted marshmallow goodness intact led to bars with patches of more intense marshmallow- y goodness, but other than that, I’m not convinced these were all that different from a standard cereal bar. They were tasty, though. I may have eaten far more than my fair share.
The beauty of the marshmallow cereal bar, for me, is in its simplicity. Abetted by the fact they’re so ( dangerously) easy to make. Adding chocolate, dulce de leche or myriad other ingredients seems to me to defeat the purpose. As would going to the trouble to make marshmallows, just to melt them down again.
For cereal bar enthusiasts, this book may well be a treat. But I think I’ll stick to the basic recipe and call it a day.