Brony Chef Project # 24: Flutterbats "Veganpire" Gazpacho

             I have been waiting for this post ever since the "Bats" episode is released. Before I go into more detail, let me tell you guys a quick story of how I got inspired to make this post today.

              During my time in "bronydom" I always feel neutral about Fluttershy. I do like her and she is a good character, but sometimes she seems not that interesting to me. I think the only times I really like Fluttershy is when she goes "out-of-character" and reveals her more crazy side. I don't know why but I kind of like her when ever she has her "psychotic break downs" like at the Grand Galloping Gala or when she turned into "Flutterhulk" in Power Ponies.

               So when I heard rumors that season 4 would involve Fluttershy becoming a vampire, I thought to myself "Oh boy, here comes another 'Twilight Vampire Story' I have to sit through". Yet when I tuned into the episode "Bats" and saw Flutterbat for the first time, I was excited, because she not only looks menacing but her design is pretty amazing. Although, I am getting ahead of myself. Lets dive into the creature to be Flutterbat.

Flutterbats Stare from "Bats": Season 4 Episode 7

 

               The Origin of Flutterbat was originally an accident on Twilights part. It all started when there was a vampire fruitbat infestation at Sweet Apple Achers. Applejack proposed that she wants the bats out through artificial means (aka extermination/mental brainwash). Although Fluttershy actually perpose to not get rid of the bats but to use them to produce more apple. Yet through peer presure, she was succumbed to Twilight Sparkles plan to brainwash the bats by stareing into the terifying creatures eyes to hold them still. Yet when Twilight casted the spell, the desire to suck out the apples juices from the whole flock transfered to Fluttershy through magical radioactivity. (To all of the non-brony readers of this post: This is Pony Physics ladies and gentlemen. Try not to think about it too much or you will get a migrain that will last for days.)




Flutterbat on the hunt for Apples

      

Flutterbat Swooping Down

After the treatment that was delivered to the bats, the problem of the ruined apples still persisted and nopony knows why. Later that night, The Mane 6 decied to comence a steak out by the orchard. Little do the group of brave ponies know that the beast was ready to pounce.





Flutterbat paralyzed by her appearance

Once they split up, each pony saw the shadowy figure flying over devouring Applejacks crops. Little did they know that the creature was one of there own possesed by the desires of the vampire fruit bat. When Applejack discovered the source of her apple problems (with Applejacks greatest reaction face ever), she discovered that her once quite freind has turned into......Flutterbat! Luckily, she reverted back into the original Fluttershy. Although, rumors say that Twilight's Spell did not get rid of all of the vampire desires.




She was savage and wild with a haughnting hiss that brings chills downs one spine. This is what I love about Flutterbat: she is NOT the styrotypical vampire from Transiviania or the Twilight vampire movies. Flutterbat looks and sounds like a lagitamit monster that bring actual fear and threat. Even if she does not eat ponies or draws blood from her victumes, she still retains that fear of the beast existing in one's body. Plus the fact that she brings ruin in her wake brings up a message of how artificial pestisides (Twilights Spell) could not only distroy the nateral enviorment of our food source, but also the consumers who were in the crossfire of this chemical debachol. (Note: Im not trying to be political about where our food comes from, this is just an observation of the message behind the episode.)

For those don't know what a Gazpacho is, it is originally a Mediterranean dish that is traditionally made with cucumber and other fresh herbs with some cool vegetable juice. What makes this soup different from other soups is that there is no heat needed to create the soup. In fact it was used to help cool down the body during the very hot and dry summer months on the Mediterranean sea. It was also used as medicine to help bring down fevers and other heat related illnesses.

Flutterbats "Veganpire" Gazpacho

For Flutterbats Gazpacho, its really more of a modification of Fluttershys Vegan Tomato Soup. Instead of being warm and inviting, the Flutterbat "Veganpire Gazpacho" is more cold and somewhat savage. To be honest, the recipe is more of a character profile then a look into the life of Flutterbat. (Since she was in one episode so far.) There is obviously apple juice and apple juice to compliment her diet, as well as cherry juice and raspberries to give the illusion of blood, and just like the Fluttershy Soup this Gazpacho is vegan. It also has some cucumber blended in to give it a more cooling sensation to fend of the hot late summer heat.

Flutterbats "Veganpire" Gazpacho

Soup Base
1 Cucumber: Peeled, Seeded and Chopped Finely

2 Apples: Peeled and Chopped

2 1/2 cups of Frozen Raspberries (Fresh will work but add a few ice cubes to make it cold.)

8 oz of Apple Juice

16 oz of Cherry Juice



Apple Chunks
2 Apples: Peeled and Chopped into bite size pieces



Seasonings
1 Tsp of Ground Ginger

Sea Salt to taste



Adding the fruit to the blender

1. Place all your chopped cucumber, apples and raspberries into a big bowl.

2. Add 1/3 of your fruit mixture to the blender along with the apple and cherry juice. Blend the mixture until it is liquefied. Keep adding the chopped fruit mixture (a few scoops at a time) and blend them into the soup until all the fruit is blended.



Adding the fruit juice

3. Pour the soup into a separate bowl and add the apple chunks to the gazpacho. You can add more chopped apples for a more chunkier soup.

4. Season your Gazpacho with the ground ginger and stir. Add some sea salt to the soup to taste and stir.

5. Serve your gazpacho in small bowls with a sliver of apple.



This dish is more suitable for the summer months, but you can also use it as a Halloween type of dish to freak some of your Friends out. Although, it is also a good soup to have something is summery and also a good transition from the summer months into more of the fall. The month that I would choose to eat this would be September since there is still that summer heat but the signs of fall are approaching in sight.

I want to thank you guys for keeping in touch of my website. I know I haven't been up-to-date as much but these posts take a lot of work. Speaking of which, I am also working on a new project. I'm not going to say much it is going to be something a little special. I will provide a few clues and hints about what it is but other then that I will keep this under wraps. Hope you guys stay cool from the August heat and I bid all of you a-do.

Brony Chef Project #23: Fluffle Puffs Chili-Lime "Bakenuts"

Today, we are going to try something different. Instead of referencing a character directly from the show, we are actually going to take a look at an "Original Character" (or an OC for short). I always wanted to explore more of the free form original characters from the "tumbler verse" and what better place to start then one of the most well known through out the Brony Community. Ladies and Gentlemen, the one recipie you all been waiting for....Fluffle Puff.

From "SUDOWOODO.WMV" of Youtube Channel Fluffy Mixer: The first animated appearence of Fluffle Puff.

Fluffle Puff is quite unique in terms of origin as an idependant character. Originally, Fluffle Puff was a fan made joke for the early fandom tumbler Dan-vs.-FiM. After a barage of popularity and fan fair from the cute pink puff ball, She got her own official tumbler and she has been up there since her debut.

 

From "Just Another Day" by Fluffy Mixer: Fluffles "Family"

Since Fluffle Puff is technically not from Hasbro and the official FiM Franchise, the therory is that Fluffle Puff is from another "tumbler verse" or a parelle universe where Twilight, a human named Dan and Queen Chryslis live under the same roof with Fluffle Puff. This practice of "what if insert character here lived with insert unruly or whacky character here " is actually pretty common not only in the Brony community but also with plenty of other fandoms who use tumbler. If you truly think about it, Tumbler has always been the "multi-verse Hub" for many different kinds of characters and stories that can be from any other show or something completly original. You might say that tumbler is the Stargate of the internet.

 

From "FPMV: 'PFUDOR'" by Fluffy Mixer: Fluffle Puff Dancing on Rainbows Meme

 

 

As for Fluffle Puff herself, its very difficult to truly describe her as a character. She has virtually no dialog beside her signiture "phfflll" and her gasp. Yet what she lacks in verbal dialog, she uses her non-verbal actions and expressions do all the talking. She is carefree, bubbly and always carring for her freinds and her lover Chrysalis. Fluffle is also curious and enjoys everything about life that interests her (like tacos for example). In short, I think she is just a little filly who just enjoys being herself and getting into all sorts of situations.

From "Fluffle Puff Tales: 'Nightmare Night'" : Another Situation with Chysilis and Fluffles

 

As for dish itself, I decied to make something that seems familiar but really unique to fit with Fluffle Puffs character. I decided to use an original recipie that I created by accident and desperation known as the "Bakenut". If you are familuar with doughnuts, then you would see that its originally dough that is deep fried. But what's different about the Bakenut is that it is "half-fried and half-baked" to give the pastry good semi-crispy out side with a very soft inside.

The dough was actually based off of an Italian doughnut known as "Zappole" (zap-o-Le). I decided modify the recipie to use lime zest instead of lemon zest to give the bakenuts more flavor and to set it apart from other Italian Desserts. I also used more of an old world technique of creating the dough by making a patte a choux to give it body as well as fluffness.

The chilie lime surgar is more of a gimmick then the main attraction of the semi-fried pastry. Mostly because, it's more of an attention grabber then the main focus of the Bakenut it self. This relates more towards the unique character design of Fluffles of having some familuar features of a pony but covered in fluff that grabs most of the attention of everyone else. I'm not going to lie, it is unusual in America to make a surgar that is more savory with spices and citrus then making it sweeter then it's intended. Yet somehow, it all balances out when the combination of sweet, spicy and sour to create something that is truly unique compared to the old fashioned doughnuts that we are all familiar with. In terms of how Fluffles act, it defiantly shows that sometimes the bizzare and uncharacteristic of what is expected, can be a beatuiful and delicious phenomenon. Now here is a recipie that essentially branches out to that mode of thinking.

 

 

Fluffle Puffs Chili-Lime "Bakenuts"

 

 

Dough

1 stick of butter (yes 1 stick)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

1 cup of flour

4 egg yolks

Zest of 1 lime

 

Chili Lime Surgar

2 cups of surgar

3-4 Tablespoons of Chili Powder

1 Tablespoon of smoked paprika

2 teaspoons of cumin

A pinch of cayene pepper

Juice of 1 lime

 

1. Heat the water, butter, surgar and some salt in a small sauce pan and simmer it for 10-15 seconds. After it is simmered, remove the sauce pan from the heat and add your flour. Stir your mixture with a wooden spoon in the sauce pan until the flour is fully incorperated.

 

 

2. Transfer your dough into another bowl and let it cool for a couple of seconds. Then, with your hand mixer on low speed, add one of your egg yolks and mix until it is fully incorperated. Keep incorperateing the rest of the egg yolk, one yolk at a time until the mixture is fully incorperated. After your incorperated your eggs, add the lime zest to the dough and fold in into the mixture until incorperated.

 

3. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Then take a cookie sheet pan and rub it vegitable shorting until the pan is covered in fat. (You can also use butter or olive oil as a substitute.) With a small spoon or ice cream scoop, scoop the mixture onto the sheet pan. Make sure to add enough space in between to make flipping easier.

 

4. Once your oven is preheated, add your pan in the oven for 13 minutes. After 8 minutes of cooking, open the oven and use a spatula to flip your bakenuts over. Once they are flip, continue to cook for 5 more minutes.

5. While your bakenuts are in the oven, combine all of the chili surgar ingredients into a bowl and mix it together with a wisk until incorperated and turns into a light red color. ( if you see clumps of surgar stuck together by the lime juice, just use your clean fingers to crumble into the surgar and keep mixing in the bowl ) you can store the surgar in an air tight bag in a dry cuburb for up to a week.

6. After about 13 minutes of cooking your bakenuts should be done. If you want to check the doneness of the pastry, take a tooth pick or the tip of your dinner knife into the tickest part of your thickest looking Bakenut and then remove after a few seconds. If the knife or tooth pick comes out clean, it is ready. If there is still some dough stuck to the knife or toothpick, then let it rest in the heated oven for a few more minutes until fully cooked. Once done, let them cool in a cooling rack or a paper towel lined plate.

7. While the bakenuts are still warm, take the bakenuts and cover them with the Chilli-lime sugar. (You can always take the bakenuts and flip them around the bowl.) Shake off the excess surgar and serve with a lime wedge or in a paper, brown bag.

 

What's really neat about bakenuts or doughnuts in general is that you can customize them with different toppings and different flavors. I choose chili-lime surgar because it gives the Bakenut a more Tex-Max twist to the Bakenut (obviously referencing Fluffle Puffs love for tacos and Latin American food). I also wanted to give it the Bakenut a new flavor profile outside of the sweetness spectrum of deserts for that uniqueness quality.

 

I'm actually glad I decied to cover a character outside of the show for once. It gives me a fresh new look not only at the show MLP: FiM, but it also gives me new ideas of how I can tackle other characters outside of the fandom. Maybe there could be other fandoms I could try someday. Who knows.

But anyways, I could say with confidence that Fluffle Puff is one of the best recipies I ever tried outside of the fandom.

Before I go through, I do want to say that there would be a new video comming out on my youtube channel pretty soon. It is about my trip to my first Brony Convention at Trotcon as well as some other neat news I might share. Although for now, I'm afraid I must bid all of you a-do and enjoy something fluffy tonight.

 

From "A Day in the Life" from Fluffy Mixer: Fluffle Puff and Quenn Chrysalis Sleeping Soundly.

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