Iced Vovos - vegan

I have been having some fun veganising some classic sweets in the last few weeks. Using aquafaba (the juice from a can of beans, mainly chickpeas), sweets with marshmallow have been fairly easy to make.

Iced Vovos have been on my list of things to veganise for some months, I got the final push when a lady (a member of Australian Vegan Foodies) mentioned a lovely story about her granddad and how iced Vovos reminded her of him. 

So here is my first attempt. I think the cookies are a bit on the dry/crunchy side. They probably could do with less cooking at the start and letting them dry out more once the marshmallow icing is drying in the oven. I baked the cookies for 15 minutes but seeing the final results I think that 8 minutes would be sufficient.

Ingredients

For the cookies

90gms of nuttlelex (or other vegan butter/margarine that is able to be creamed)

200gms of raw caster sugar

80gms of aquafaba

370gms of flour

2 tsp baking powder

For the icing

120gms of sugar

70gms of aquafaba

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp vanilla extract

Queen pink food colouring (optional)

To assemble

150 grams of finely grated dessicated coconut
300gms of raspberry jam

Method

To make the cookies

1. Sift flour and baking powder and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
3. Prepare two cookie trays by lining them with baking paper.
4. With hand mixer, cream the nuttelex until it turns pale. 
5. Add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, and keep mixing on high with the hand mixer until all the sugar is incorporated.
6. Add one tablespoon of aquafaba at a time, while continuing to mix on high.
7. Once all aquafaba is incorporated, add the flour mix, and using a flat knife, mix it with the butter mix.
8. Turn out the mix onto a floured surface, to make a soft dough. Do not over knead, just enough to bring the dough together.
9. Roll out the dough between two pieces of baking paper, roll it to approximately 4 millimeters.
10. Cut the dough into rectangles using a cutter or with a knife. 
11. Place on a baking tray covered with baking paper, and bake for 8 minutes.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

To make the icing/marshmallow

1. Place aquafaba in the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Mix initially on low speed and turn it to high when the mix is frothy.
3. Mix for approximately 10 minutes until stiff peaks form.
4. Add one tablespoon of sugar at a time, and continue mixing, until all sugar is mixed in.
5. Add food colouring if desired.
6. Add the xantan gum and mix for two more minutes.

To assemble

1. Place the mashmallow mix in a piping bag with a small star tip.
2. Pipe stars all long each long edge of the cookie, and cover imediately with coconut.
3. Once all the cookies are done, shake off any excess coconut and place in the oven at 100 degrees celcius for 20 minutes. This will allow the marshmallow to set.
4. Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool.
5. Heat the raspberry jam in a pot on the stove. When it has become runny, strain it using a fine mesh metal strainer.
6. Spread the hot strained raspberry jam down the middle of the cookie and allow to cool.

Store in one layer in an airtight container.

Makes 24.