Sweet Lotus Root Soup Disaster

As a preface: the original recipe relies on a meringue. Since my guests included a vegan, that changed things quite a bit. What follows is the atrocity that resulted. Please, please don't try this at home.
To make up for the lack of egg whites, I tried whipping the egg subsitute. No good. So I poured what it was into a dish in the oven and let it cook. For a while. Eventually, something gooey resulted. I used that.
The lotus root is supposed to be sliced into matchstick-sized pieces, along with the pears.<br />rn<br />rnIn the only part that worked, this dish looked good. Save some of the lotus root (sliced horizontally to get the lovely shape), and pear centers (the seeds make a similar pattern).
Next, I made a 'sauce' per the instructions made of the cornstarch, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1 cup water. One of the pictures shows the bland result.
Then, the sauce, goo from step #2, pears, and lotus were mixed in a dish, garnished with the slices, and chilled for 3 hours.
The result was dished into bowls, garnished with lotus root slices, served, and fairly promptly fed to the dog.

Ingredients