Marshmallows.

Dust lightly with cornflour and icing sugar

These little fluffy pillows of joy have a very nostalgic association of christmas with me. It used to be a tradition for us to have marshmallows, in a jar  decorated like a snowman, next to the fire around christmas time, I’m not sure why. We hadn’t had them for a while so so me and Matts decided make a homemade batch this year to give as gifts.

Flavour-wise, they’re almost there, however I think we didn’t beat them long enough, so the sugar formed larger crystals, giving it a bit of a grainy texture.

Marshmallows are actually really easy to make with the right equipment i.e a confectionary thermometer and a heavy bottomed pan, both of which can be acquired relatively cheaply. The method use is relatively similar to an Italian meringue where you whip up egg whites and then stir in molten sugar, the fluffy texture is achieve by beating for 15 minutes, which is bloody hard work! This recipe would be perfect for a KitchenAid, where you can just leave it, however we just used a bog-standard mixer and it did the job well enough! The recipe we used is here.

Peppermint Creams

Perfect for a gift!

These are a super easy introduction to confectionary, and definitely worth a go!

Start by mixing 350g icing sugar one spoonful at a time into 150g condensed milk, until it forms a sticky dough, this will take a while and give you a good work out! Knead a few drops of peppermint extract.

Once you got a dough that cleans the bowl and isn’t too sticky, dust a flat surface and a rolling pin with icing sugar and roll out to roughly 5 mm. Using a very small cutter, or improvise and use something the size you want them, bottle caps are good, cut out lots of circles in the dough.

Pop them on grease proof paper on baking trays and stick in the fridge until they have set, about 3 hours. Once they’ve set, melt 100g dark chocolate over a ban-marie and drizzle over the peppermint creams