Tessa’s original writing:

Spotted Summer Toad

A Fantastical Ancient Food Blog

Ingredients:

Cold Yoke

Cream

Peep

Carriage

Neatly shape the cold yoke. Secure the yoke and drop it into the cream. Place the ooze on the stove. You may need to adjust the substance by scorching it frantically, but it is breakable and can burn. When it becomes spotted, fetch a hollow carriage and secure the substance in it. Put the peeps in. Identify a colorful round rock within the purring substance and trap it. Retrieve it from the stove and secure it until it contracts. Join the neat rock with its miniature partner. Shape into a plucky toad and let decay.

*If the ooze becomes a volcano on the stove, respect its unwieldy sabotage and conclude. You can either worry about the destruction or you can boast about your elite chase for the Spotted Summer Toad.

Refine that writing into a core concept:

To make the Spotted Summer Toad recipe, scorch egg yolks, cream, and marshmallows on the stove and shape the mixture into a toad. If it doesn’t work out, it’s ok, you can brag about your valiant attempt to your fancier friends.

Ivy’s take on Tessa’s core concept of her original writing:

To bake a spotted toad:

A proper tea party can never be complete without that classic dessert Spotted Toad. This recipe comes to me from my great aunt Miranda, who never failed to serve spotted toad at all her tea times.

Ingredients:

Eggs

Cream

Marshmallows

Method:

• Separate the eggs into yolks and whites, mixing the whites together but keeping each yolk separate
• Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. You may want to under-whip slightly, depending on how firm you enjoy your spotted toad.
• Measure out your desired amount of marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl. You should have about one large handful of marshmallows per yolk you use, scale up as desired
• Melt the marshmallows in the microwave in 10 second intervals. Be sure to mix between each interval, and not overheat. The marshmallow should turn into a sticky dough-like texture. Mix in the cream a teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency
• Fold the marshmallow into your whipped egg whites, being careful not to press out too much of the air
• Spoon the mixture out onto a well greased baking sheet or parchment paper in small mounds. You should be aiming for mounds about the size of a quarter – they will spread out a bit as they settle
• Carefully create a round divet in each mound, then transfer each egg yolk into its own mound
• Take your butane cooking torch and carefully scorch each egg yolk, and lightly cook the outside of the marshmallow to firm it up. We are looking to brown the yolk ever so slightly so that it develops spots, like the back of a toad, as well as cook it enough to keep it from running out of the marshmallow mounds
• If you’ve done everything right, it should look a little something like this!

Some common mistakes and issues

Cracking the yolks – be sure to move your yolks gently, so they stay in one piece, or you will not be able to create the desired effect of the yolk sitting atop the marshmallow in one round piece

Over or under whipping your whites – this takes practice, but be careful not to over whip (the egg whites won’t mix well with the marshmallow) or under whip (the mixture will be too watery)

Using too little marshmallow – with all the varying sizes of marshmallows these days, be sure that you are using an appropriate amount for the size of your eggs

Pressing out the air – be sure when folding together your ingredients, you don’t press out too much air, or your mounds will collapse under the weight of the egg yolk

Over scorching your dessert – a cooking torch takes a careful hand, so its likely you’ll burn your first few batches of spotted toad. Keep at it! Even if it comes out imperfect, the mere fact that you attempted such a daring and decadent dessert is sure to impress upon even the pickiest of party guests.