The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is back — and this time he’s edible.

The paranormal monster from Ghostbusters has surfaced in Toronto’s Entertainment District at Montecito restaurant disguised as a baked Alaska.

For $12, he’s yours to toy with.

Don’t be fooled by his small stature — a less-than-menacing 7.5 centimetres round. This three-faced confection layers marshmallow, white chocolate-marshmallow ice cream and sponge cake.

Stay Puft may be surrounded by two pools of protective sauce (chocolate and marshmallow), but they can’t save him from being smothered in meringue and blowtorched to order.

This puffy, big-screen villain is destined to meet his demise, repeatedly and deliciously, at the hands of the eating public.









Montecito is the newly opened creation of Toronto-raised Hollywood producer/director Ivan Reitman and his partner, New York chef Jonathan Waxman, plus local restaurateurs Tom and Jordan Bitove from Innov8 Hospitality.

The two-storey restaurant — on Adelaide St. W. near TIFF Bell Lightbox — boasts 280 seats and a short California-meets-Canada menu that gets tweaked daily and proudly lists local suppliers.

Waxman, of course, won’t actually be cooking. He runs Barbuto in Manhattan and co-owns a new spot called Adele’s in Nashville. His influence is all over Montecito’s deceptively simple, ingredient-driven dishes, starting with his famous “jw chicken, herb salad, salsa verde.”

Waxman charged executive chef Matt Robertson and executive pastry chef Steve Song (both Torontonians) to create a dessert that played on Reitman’s film history.

Ghostbusters, the 1984 comedy about paranormal investigators, was the natural choice. It took a bit of experimenting before the chefs settled on a playful take on the classic baked Alaska to represent the Ghostbusters’ biggest foe, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

“It’s dramatic. It’s fun. It’s playful,” says Robertson. “Right now it’s blowtorched to order, but eventually we’ll be flambéing it tableside.”

Song demonstrates the multiple steps that go into making a $12 “slice” of cake and shares the recipe for home cooks.

He starts with a whole egg, Italian genoise sponge cake that creates volume by suspending air through the batter instead of using a leavening agent. He makes marshmallows by blooming gelatin sheets. He creates marshmallow ice cream enriched with caramelized white chocolate.

“We can change it up by playing around with different flavours of ice cream,” Song promises. “It’s very versatile and very flexible.”

At Montecito, Song freezes the layers in a sheet pan, then cuts individual rounds. He saves the scraps for the staff meal. For home cooks, he has simplified things.

The restaurant (which is named for the part of southern California that Reitman calls home and his production company) has been quietly serving dinner for a week or so. The Marshmallow Man dessert is enjoying instant popularity.

“It’s our biggest seller and I can’t keep up,” says Song.

Montecito — with its upstairs lounge, impending street-level patio, event space options and digital wall — is certainly TIFF-ready.

But, in an unexpected stroke of timing, Ghostbusters is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is being restored and remastered. It will return to the big screen briefly over Labour Day weekend, and will be re-released on DVD and Blu-ray later that month.

All this extra attention bodes well for Toronto’s own tribute treat.

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Baked Alaska

This home-style, streamlined version of Montecito’s signature Ghostbusters-themed dessert is served as one cake instead of individual rounds. Be patient and make it a day before you plan to eat it. Rush the three freezing steps and your dessert will collapse.

Montecito executive pastry chef Steve Song offers an easier, gelatin-free marshmallow fluff recipe for home cooks. You can also buy jars of marshmallow fluff.

Any ice cream flavour works. Some shops, like Ed’s Real Scoop and Ed’s Real Scoop, make toasted/burnt marshmallow ice cream. There are raw egg whites in the marshmallow fluff (which can be avoided if you buy it) and the meringue.

Genoise Sponge Cake:

5 large eggs

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (140 mL) granulated sugar

1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup (180 mL) all-purpose flour

Marshmallow Fluff:

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

2 cups (500 mL) golden corn syrup

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1/2 tsp (2 mL) kosher salt

2 cups (500 mL) icing sugar

1 tbsp (15 mL) pure vanilla extract

6 tbsp (90 mL) granulated sugar

Meringue:

3 large egg whites

1/2 tsp (2 mL) pure vanilla

1 cup (250 mL) superfine (instant dissolving) sugar

Ice Cream:

3 cups (750 mL) vanilla or marshmallow ice cream, or flavour of your choice, softened at room temperature until spreadable

Line bottom of 10-inch (25-cm) springform cake pan with parchment. If using a square pan, line with parchment that overhangs sides so you can easily remove the cake.

For cake, in bowl of electric mixer, combine eggs, sugar and vanilla. Beat on high 8 minutes until batter reaches full volume. Lower speed to medium. Beat 30 seconds to get rid of air pockets.

Gently scrape fluffy batter into large mixing bowl. Using fine-mesh sieve, sift flour on to batter. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in flour. Sharply tap bowl several times on counter to get rid of air pockets.

Gently scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated 350F (180C) oven until top is firm and tester comes out clean, about 16 to 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in pan. Loosen edges with knife. Transfer cake to wire rack to cool completely.

For marshmallow fluff, in bowl of electric mixer, combine egg whites, corn syrup and salt. Beat on high until thick and almost doubled in volume, about five minutes. In two batches on low speed, beat in sugar, scraping down sides. Add vanilla. Beat on high until blended. Mixture can be refrigerated in covered container up to 2 weeks. Makes about 8 cups (2L).

For this recipe, set aside 3 cups (750 mL) marshmallow fluff. Put in medium saucepan with water. Cook over low heat, stirring or whisking to loosen until it’s spreadable.

For meringue, place egg whites in bowl of electric mixer. Beat until frothy. Beat in vanilla on high. Slowly beat in sugar on medium speed. Raise speed to high. Beat until shiny, fluffy and light, scraping down sides as needed. Refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble, line bottom of your cake pan with parchment. Spread loosened marshmallow fluff in it, smoothing top. Freeze until firm, at least 1 to 2 hours. Spread softened ice cream on fluff, smoothing top. Freeze until fairly firm, at least 1 hour. Place cooled cake on top. Freeze until ice cream is completely frozen, preferably overnight. Use knife to loosen cake. Remove from pan. (Don’t worry about imperfections. They will be hidden by the meringue.)

If using crème brûlée/culinary torch, place cake on serving dish. Using offset spatula, spread meringue all over top and sides, making top slightly thicker than sides and forming swirly peaks. Brown the meringue lightly all over.

Alternately if using oven, place cake on parchment-lined baking sheet. Move oven rack up one notch from centre. Broil cake on high, watching closely, just until meringue peaks are golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to serving dish.

Freeze any leftovers.

Makes 12 to 15 servings.