So, this was supposed to be a Valentine’s Day post, but I missed it by a week. Which is ok, since this isn’t technically a Valentine’s Day dessert. Er…salad. Valentine’s Salad. Instead of the ubiquitous strawberry, the pink in this dessert actually comes from cranberries.
Errr…Salad. The pink in this Salad.
AuthorRetroRuth
From 1952
Tested Recipe!
[cooked-sharing]
Melt marshmallows in the milk. Cook cranberries in 1/2 cup of water and add to marshmallows. Whip the cream and add it to the marshmallow mixture after it has cooled. Freeze.
Ingredients
Directions
Melt marshmallows in the milk. Cook cranberries in 1/2 cup of water and add to marshmallows. Whip the cream and add it to the marshmallow mixture after it has cooled. Freeze.
Notes
See? Salad.
Now this…Salad…is actually what is popularly(?) known as a Marlow. Which is a dessert made with fruit/chocolate/coffee, sugar, marshmallows, milk and whipping cream and then frozen in a brick and scooped like ice cream. Marlow goes back to when the marshmallow was a new, exciting consumer item (Who can blame them? Marshmallows are so fun.) and the idea of making your own frozen dessert in your own freezer was the bees knees.
The only real difference with this and a Marlow is that someone decided to leave out the extra sugar, throw in some cranberries and call it Salad.
And so I wanted to try it. I’m down with changing recipes and turning them into something else (cough). Plus, I really like cranberry. And I think it should be the official fruit of Valentine’s Day.
I mean, it would all work. They are red. And you could cover anything in chocolate and people would eat it.
Side note: Here are two new kitchen items. A vintage mixing bowl and a new hand mixer that my sister got me for Christmas. Blue!!
Pretty.
I know you are supposed to scoop Marlow out and serve it like ice cream, but I wanted to see if you could mold it as well. Because this recipe is all about experiments.
And where there is a pan of water, ye shall find a TJ trying to stick his hand in it.
Sooo…not so much on the molding. Or the unmolding, I guess. Maybe if I would have lined them with plastic wrap. But unmolding them the normal way lost all the fine detail. That was supposed to be a bird. Now it is just mush.
But they still both came out. And you can always cover everything with whip cream. So, victory!
Mmmmm…dessert. No, wait. Salad. Salad!
“Does this look like salad to you?”
“It’s good. And actually has an ok level of sweetness.”
“Salad-level sweetness?”
“Not even close. This is not salad.”
The Verdict: Good
From The Tasting Notes –
This was fun to make, and both kids loved it. I was going to try to hype it for Valentine’s Day, but this would also be a fun change from traditional cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. It was sweet enough, but still had a good, strong tartness to it. The frozen texture was on the icy side, but it was very refreshing. And as it thawed it didn’t just turn into a puddle, it kept its shape and turned into sort of a creamy, cranberry mousse.
And now, a bonus Alex tasting:
“Are you sure you like it? You look a little shocked.”
“It’s really cold. But it’s yummy.”
“Would you eat this as a salad?”
“This would be the best salad. Much better than lettuce.”
Looks good! It’s unfathomable to me that it’s called just “Salad.” Then again, it reminds me that my in-laws have a handed-down mid-century dessert recipe that they call “Recipe.” As in “Are you going to make recipe today?” It’s a fruit thing actually not dissimilar to this that they put in paper cups, but I’m sure they’re the only ones calling it “Recipe.”
“Much better than lettuce”. Kids say the darndest things.
Just recently a friend melted marshmallows with milk added some cream and lots of shaved bitter-sweet chocolate then dumped it in a premade Oreo crust. Chilled, not frozen, and topped with whipped cream. I think this recipe will hold its shape even in a heatwave.
This “salad” looks delicious!!
the daughters soooo cute ….who actually likes just lettuce …..and its better than the 50 million jello salads that used ot be around ….
My in-laws have a classic family recipe they call “Pink Goop.” This recipe is kind of like Pink Goop, except Pink Goop includes nuts, isn’t frozen, and the marshmallows aren’t melted. If this recipe is a mutation of a Marlow, I wonder if their Pink Goop is a mutation of this mutation? Either way, it’s so very pot-lucky!
Oh, the frozen salads. We had different ones on each side of the family for holidays– my mom’s side made one with Cool Whip, pecans, crushed pineapple, and cherry pie filling, and my dad’s family used Cool Whip, pecans, crushed pineapple, maraschino cherries, and mashed bananas. I think the bonkers pink one with the cherry was my favorite. We still make them from time to time, but salad they are not.
That sounds to me like Watergate salad, another retro “salad” that isn’t salad, at all. I make it often: mini marshmallows, pistachio instant pudding, chopped walnuts, Cool Whip, and crushed pineapple. Yummy stuff!