Funfetti Marshmallows

I confess I did not feel like baking this weekend. It was a very jam packed weekend, and I hardly had any free time. So I wanted to do something fun and easy. Rainbow sprinkles are always fun, and you know how much I love them so. It's the easiest way to give something very simple that extra little bit of brightness and craziness. And so, inspired by some of the wonderful funfetti recipes that are around at the moment (see Bakers Royale and Sweetapolita), I turned some very normal vanilla bean marshmallows into these happy rainbow funfetti marshmallows.

I know there's nothing ground-breaking about this idea, and it has most likely been done before, but I had so much fun making them and photographing them. It was the perfect excuse to pull out these pretty sprinkles that I picked up recently. I cannot stress enough how much better homemade marshmallows are compared to the store-bought kind. If you have never tried homemade marshmallows, you need to try making them at least once. They are SOOO much better, trust me. Anything with a candy thermometer and boiling glucose/corn syrup can seem a little intimidating at first, but it's really not that bad. And it's so much fun watching it whip up in your mixing bowl, into this huge fluffy white cloud.

I mixed these sprinkles throughout the marshmallow mixture, and also sprinkled them on the outside as well. I would definitely recommend using the softer type of sprinkles rather than the crunchier nonpariels variety. You don't really want to encounter those super hard sprinkles throughout your fluffy, soft marshmallows. But imagine how cute these would be in smores and hot chocolates!

Of course you could make these marshmallows whatever flavour or colour you want, I'm totally wishing I had made some Bailey's flavoured ones with green sprinkles for St Patrick's Day now! I was really really tempted to try making rainbow marshmallows as well as using rainbow sprinkles, but I just didn't have the time.

I totally confused myself on the quantities I usually use for this recipe (I fixed it up in the instructions below), so I ended up with double the amount of marshmallow than I needed, which is why the sprinkles throughout the marshmallow mixture might seem a little on the sparse side. So I made one tray of regular marshmallows, and used the leftover mixture to make a funfetti marshmallow and oreo slice. It was just a matter of crushing some oreo biscuits and baking it with butter to make a crust. I love the contrast of the dark biscuits against the white marshmallow! And if you're a fan of the combination of oreo and marshmallows you should check out these ones.

Funfetti Marshmallows (and an Oreo Slice)
(adapted from my Oreo Marshmallow recipe, makes about 25 marshmallows)
250g (about 1 cup) sugar
2 tsp liquid glucose or light corn syrup
1 tbsp gelatine powder
1 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp extract + 1 /2 tsp vanilla bean paste)
1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles, plus extra for decorating (softer ones are better than the crunchy ones)
Vegetable oil (or melted butter) for greasing
1/2 cup (75g) icing sugar, sifted
1/2 cup (75g) cornflour (cornstarch)

Grease and line the base and sides with baking paper in a 20cm square cake tin or a 17x27cm slice tin. Place caster sugar, glucose and 100ml water in a small saucepan. Place on low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Place 100ml cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatine powder over it and set aside to soften. Increase heat on saucepan to medium-high and insert a sugar thermometer. Boil for 3-5 minutes, until sugar thermometer reaches 120°C (250°F) (I got my candy thermometer from a $2 dollar shop for those wondering). Remove from the heat and carefully add gelatine to mixture and whisk until gelatine dissolves and no lumps remain (if you are worried about this step you can heat the bowl of gelatine over a pot of simmering water first to make it smoother before adding it).

Place egg white in a large mixing bowl and start beating with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment on high speed. Gradually add hot sugar syrup to the egg white while mixing, if you are using a hand mixer you should beat your egg whites to a stiff peak before you start adding the syrup, but it works fine to add it as soon as you start beating the egg in a stand mixer. Beat until mixture is glossy and white, about 5 minutes on a stand mixer and closer to 10 with a hand mixer. Fold in vanilla and 1/4 cup of sprinkles (or more if you wish!). Before mixture starts to cool too much, pour mixture into prepared tin and use a spatula to quickly smooth top. Leave to set at room temperature overnight. Use a greased knife to cut into 25 squares. You can then roll or top with extra sprinkles on the outside of each marshmallow. Mix icing sugar and cornstarch together and use to dust each marshmallow. Place on a piece of baking paper to dry about an hour, then store in an airtight container. Best eaten within two days.

Alternately, if you want to make this into an Oreo slice, before making the marshmallow mixture press 2 packs of oreo crumbs (centres removed) mixed with 1/3 cup (90g) butter melted into the bottom of your tin and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 mins, then pour the marshmallow mixture over the top. Top with more sprinkles and chill in the fridge until set.

Salted Caramel Apples with Popcorn

I was feeling very selfish this weekend. It was very much a weekend full of 'me' time. I made these salted caramel apples coated in popcorn bits for purely selfish reasons. I wasn't trying to make anything interesting, original or pretty for the blog, I just really wanted to eat a toffee apple and I really wanted caramel popcorn, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I figured that if it turned into an ugly mess, I would just eat it and no one would ever have to know. Turns out they look quite pretty, so here they are. It might seem like a stupid, unnecessary or even gross combination to some people, but I wanted it. So I made it, I ate it and it was deeelicious.

In Australia we call them toffee apples, and they're usually coated in a hard, clear (or red tinted) toffee. I loved them when I was a kid, though my Mum hardly ever let me buy them because I would always eat all the toffee and throw out the apple and then run off in a sugar-high daze. It was understandable, the toffee apples were always from the supermarket and the apple inside was always an old, bruised, sad looking thing. And I really like sugar. I found it interesting that the as well as having toffee/candy apples in the US, they also have caramel apples that are covered in a creamy, softer caramel coating and sometimes dipped in toppings. I really love creamy caramel, and I decided that I needed to make these with an awesome salted caramel and then dip them in buttered popcorn.

Anything that involves boiling sugar syrup scares me, because it usually ends in me covered in burns. I decided not to take any risks, I did this salted caramel with a candy thermometer and I used David Lebovitz's salted caramel recipe. It worked perfectly, the caramel turned out beautifully smooth, dark and shiny. And I didn't get any sugar burns! It coated the apples nicely, set well and tasted amazing, with just the right amount of salt. I learnt a nifty tip where you should pour hot water over your apples and then rub them dry before you use them for caramel apples; this helps to remove any wax coating and helps the caramel stick to the surface of the apple easier. I still had a little trouble getting the caramel to stick at first, when the caramel is at its hottest it ran off the surface a little too easily. But once the caramel started to cool and thicken slightly it worked fine. I immediately ate as many of these evil apples as I could, and then wandered away from the kitchen in a familiar sugar-high daze. Unfortunately this did mean that I left a few of the leftover caramel apples on the kitchen counter and they didn't keep so well in the open, I woke up the next day and all the caramel had melted off the apples. I really should have wrapped them up in cellophane, so I will have to remember that for next time. There will definitely be a next time. P.S. Your teeth will not be happy with you because of all the chewy caramel, apple skin and popcorn bits.

Popcorn Salted Caramel Apples
(makes 8-10 caramel apples, salted caramel from David Lebovitz's recipe)
3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or bean paste
Heaped 1/2 teaspoon sea salt flakes
1/2 cup (160 g) light corn syrup or golden syrup (I used Lyle’s Golden Syrup)
1 cup (200 g) sugar
4 tbsp (60 g), salted butter, cubed, at room temperature
8-10 small/medium apples (I usually prefer Fuji but this time I had to use Pink Lady) + wooden sticks
100g popcorn, popped and crushed into smaller pieces (I just used microwave butter popcorn as this was all I had available)

NOTE: This recipe creates a soft, chewy and creamy caramel to coat the apples. If you prefer to making a hard, clear toffee apple, this recipe from BBC good food looks decent.
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Remove stalks from apples and place in a large bowl and pour hot water over them and leave for a few seconds, then remove from the water and dry thoroughly. This supposedly helps to remove the wax coating on the apples and helps the caramel to stick to their surface better. Push a wooden stick into each apple, take care not to spear the stick all the way through. Place cream, vanilla, salt and half the butter (30g/2 tbsp) in a small saucepan and gently heat, stirring every now and then until the mixture just comes to the boil. Cover and set aside, keeping it warm while you prepare the sugar syrup.

In a medium or large heavy based saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer, place golden syrup and sugar and place on medium heat, stirring gently until the sugar dissolves. Once the mixture is melted together and the sugar is evenly moistened, only stir is as necessary to keep it from getting any hot spots. Cook until the syrup reaches 155°C(310°F). Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the warm cream mixture (take care as it will bubble up a lot) until it is smooth and even. Return to the heat and cook the mixture to 127°C(260°F). Remove the pan from the heat, lift out the thermometer, and stir in the cubes of butter, until it's melted and the mixture is smooth.

Working quickly, dip and swirl your prepared apples in the hot caramel mixture, hold it over the pan to let the excess drip off then carefully dip the caramel covered apple into the crushed popcorn. With the first few apples the caramel may be quite hot and run off the surface of the apples too easily, so you may need to leave these to set for a few minutes before coating with popcorn. If you work slowly (like me) and the caramel starts to get too viscious for dipping the apples, return it to a low heat and stir until it's runny enough. Place apples on the prepared baking tray and leave to cool completely. Serve immediately, the sooner the better as the popcorn will get soggier and the caramel will soften the longer you leave it/the longer it sits uncovered, you can try wrapping it in cellophane once they are cool to help avoid this. You can also mix any leftover popcorn and caramel together for an extra snack.

Chocolate 'Cupcake' Fudge

When all else fails, sprinkles will fix everything. Sprinkles (especially rainbow sprinkles) are awesome. Sprinkles make me happy. And after a trip to the party supply store I had mountains and mountains of of them in all difference colours. I was determined to make something with these sprinkles. The first thing didn't turn out so great. It's not everyday that I have to go around asking people, "Do these unicorn horns look more like mystical penises?". Yeah.

I was still determined to make something with these sprinkles. They are just too darn pretty. So I decided to try Karen's recipe for easy chocolate fudge, it looked so freakin delicious. I just made a plain chocolate fudge, but poured it into mini cupcake papers and topped it with vanilla icing so they look just like cupcakes. All so I had something to put the rainbow sprinkles on. So cute!

There are many things I love about this fudge recipe. Karen's instructions were super easy to follow and the best part is that there is no sugar thermometer involved. There was a heck of a lot of stirring involved, my arms nearly fell off and my favourite silicon spatula snapped :( But it was totally worth it. The chocolate fudge is so tasty. And with the pink icing and sprinkles on top it looks so fun and cheerful.

The two things that usually freak me out about chocolate fudge is the risks of it not setting, or the chocolate seizing and making the whole mixture turn grainy. This recipe worked perfectly, the mixture sets pretty quickly so you have to work fast. I even kept my fudge at room temperature all day and it didn't go soft or melty at all. My first batch of fudge actually seized up as soon as I stirred in the chocolate and I completely freaked out, but I returned it to the heat and gradually added hot water to the mixture and it totally fixed it. It was like magic!

I wish I had been able to make these in time for our New Year's celebrations, the confetti sprinkles are just perfect for that kind of occasion. But these little cupcake shaped fudge bites are perfect for any party, they are nice and bite-sized, which I prefer since the fudge is quite sweet and you don't want to eat too much of it in one go. And everyone needs more rainbow sprinkles in their life.

Chocolate 'Cupcake' Fudge
(slightly adapted from Citrus & Candy's Easy Chocolate Fudge, makes 24 'cupcakes')
1 x 395g tin of condensed milk
80g butter (I used salted, but you can use unsalted and add 1 tsp salt)
200g light brown sugar
2 tbsp golden syrup
180g dark chocolate, finely chopped

For the icing:
125g butter
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
Optional: Pink/Red food colouring, a few drops
Sprinkles to decorate

Line two 12-hole mini muffin trays with papers. Place condensed milk, butter, sugar, and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is glossy and sugar has dissolved (do not boil whatsoever).

Increase the heat to medium-low and bring to a simmer while stirring (there’s gonna be a lot of stirring involved here!). Continue to stir and cook for about 6-8 minutes until the mixture has thickened and it 'comes away from the sides' (check out Karen's video at the end of her post, it was a really useful reference for this part). Fudge is ready when a teaspoon of mixture forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water.

Remove from heat and working quickly, add in the finely chopped chocolate, stir until chocolate has melted (work fast otherwise the mixture might seize. Don't fret if it does, return it to the heat and add hot water 1 tbsp at a time and stir until the mixture turns molten again). Carefully spoon into prepared cupcake papers, smooth tops with a spatula and cool for 30 mins on a wire rack. Chill in fridge until firm.

Prepare the icing; remove butter 30 mins before starting. Chop up butter and beat in a large mixing bowl on high with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and gradually add sifted icing sugar, vanilla and food colouring. Increase speed to high and beat until smooth and fluffy. Peel cupcake papers away from the set chocolate fudge (I sliced a thin layer off the tops of each of them before doing this, so they had flatter tops). Place icing in a piping bag with a 1cm star tip and pipe over the top of the fudge and decorate with sprinkles. Store fudge in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Oreo Marshmallows

Marshmallows are a curious sweet treat for me. When I was younger I wasn't crazy about them, I loved to heat them up in the microwave and watch them expand, but I never ate them straight out of the packet that much. But ever since Sweetness The Patisserie opened up near me I found out how good handmade marshmallows could be. It was a revelation, and I have been making my own marshmallows ever since. I only ever use store-bought ones when I need to use marshmallows as part of another recipe and I'm too lazy to whip up my own.

Now that I have a KitchenAid, marshmallows are a so quick and easy to make and the mixer does all the work to make them super fluffy. All I have to do is stand back and watch the magic happen. It's been a while since I made a batch of marshmallows, I've been waiting to come up with a fun new flavour and I finally came up with Oreo Marshmallows. These Cookies & Cream flavoured marshmallows are made up of three layers; two chocolate layers with a vanilla layer in the middle and they're rolled in Oreo cookie crumbs, rather than dusting them with snow sugar.

I was undecided about the best way to present these marshmallows. Originally I was just going to cover marshmallows all over with cookie crumb, but the three different layers of marshmallows were so pretty it seemed like a shame it cover it up! So I did half the marshmallows completely covered in crumbs and only crumbed the top and bottom of the other half so you can still see the layers. Obviously covering the whole surface of the marshmallow is more practical if you're going to put them in to bags and then people get a nice surprise when they bite into the marshmallow and see the layers, but if you're serving them on a plate then just covering the ends will work. It's entirely up to you which way you cover them.

I was really happy with how the recipe turned out. I used my usual marshmallow recipe which I love since it uses glucose syrup instead of corn syrup and uses powdered gelatine instead of leaves. I just added some rich dark cocoa powder to the two chocolate layers expecting the cocoa to only lightly tint the marshmallow, but was pleasantly surprise to see the colour seemed to darken overnight, giving it great contrast against the white vanilla layer in the middle. I love the lovely crunchy outside that the layer of crumbs give the marshmallows, as well as giving it a slight dark bitter chocolate flavour. It's definitely an interesting twist on a normal marshmallow.

Marshmallow making is definitely a lot easier when you have a stand mixer; there's a lot of whisking involved and pouring hot sugar syrup at the same time that can be tricky. I have made it before with a handmixer, but it's hard work and I would definitely recommend you make it with the help of someone else in the kitchen. But trust me, it's worth all the effort to make your own marshmallows and you'll never want to eat store-bought marshmallows again. P.S. these particular ones go great with a glass of milk or hot chocolate.

Oreo (Cookies & Cream) Marshmallows
(adapted from this recipe, makes about 40 marshmallows)
3 x 250g (about 1 cup) caster sugar
3 x 2 tsp liquid glucose (usually available in baking aisle at supermarket, you could probably replace with light corn syrup if you can't get this)
3 x 1 tbsp gelatine powder
3 x 1 large egg white
2 x 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch process)
2 tsp vanilla extract
Vegetable oil (or melted butter)
1 packet Oreo biscuits

This recipe requires making three layers of separate marshmallow, one chocolate layer, then vanilla and then another chocolate layer. Note: if you want to simplify things, you can just make the whole thing just vanilla (or just chocolate) marshmallow and do the entire thing in one go (though your mixing bowl may not have the capacity for this, so you may need to use 2/3 the ingredients). Grease and line the base and sides with baking paper in a 24x32cm lamington tray, or two 20cm square cake tins. Prepare one of the chocolate layers first - place 250g caster sugar, 2 tsp glucose and 100ml water in a small saucepan. Place on low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Place 100ml cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle 1 tbsp gelatine powder over it and set aside to soften. Increase heat on saucepan to medium-high and insert a sugar thermometer. Boil for 3-5 minutes, until sugar thermometer reaches 120°C (250°F). Remove from the heat and carefully add gelatine to mixture and whisk until gelatine dissolves and no lumps remain (if you are worried about this step you can heat the bowl of gelatine over a pot of simmering water first to make it smoother).

Place egg white in a large mixing bowl and start beating with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment on high speed. Gradually add hot sugar syrup to the egg white while mixing, if you are using a hand mixer you should beat your egg whites to a stiff peak before you start adding the syrup, but it works fine to add it as soon as you start beating the egg in a stand mixer. Beat until mixture is glossy and white, about 5 minutes on a stand mixer and closer to 10 with a hand mixer. Sift in 1 tbsp cocoa powder and beat again until combined. Before mixture starts to cool too much, pour mixture into prepared tin and use a spatula to quickly smooth top. Try to keep it as smooth as possible so you have nice, neat layers. Repeat process for second and third layer, replacing the cocoa with vanilla extract for the second layer. Leave to set at room temperature overnight. Remove filling from Oreo cookies, I used a knife to scrape it off. Place in a food processor and pulse or smash in a ziplock bag to a fine crumb. Using a round 3-4 cm cutter to cut out marshmallows, or cut into squares. I found it was best to lightly grease the cutter with some vegetable oil before cutting each marshmallow, cutting with a twisting motion. Roll marshmallows in cookie crumbs, or just dip each end in the crumbs depending on how you prefer to present them. Place on a piece of baking paper to dry for at least a few hours, then store in an airtight container. Best eaten within two days.

Rainbow Rice Krispies Treats

Don't ask me what madness led to this. All I know is, I had a huge bag of marshmallows to use up (kindly donated by Frickin'LaserBeam Man) and an urge to do something with rainbows. Again. Since I've used up my s'mores quota for the moment I felt the need to make some Rice Krispies Treats! (Or Rice Bubble Bars/LCMs for the Aussies. I still don't know what LCMs stands for...) So why not make them all the colours of the rainbow?! And as I was stirring up a pot of bright purple melted marshmallow all I could think was, 'This is so disgusting.' What can I say, I'm in a crazy baking phase.

I'd seen other versions of rainbow rice krispies squares, but all the different colours were usually mixed together. I wanted to do something different, by creating super thin layers of each colour stuck on top of each other. And the best part, hiding it under a layer of regular old plain rice krispies so if you looked from the top (see above photo), you'd be none the wiser. Then you cut into it and...

Tada! So bright! So vivid. (Yes I still love the Double Rainbow meme) Isn't it preeeettyy??? It looks even cooler when you put those two pictures right next to each other, look:

[Click here for the full-sized version]

And before I get any remarks about the evils of food colouring, use natural food colouring or don't make it at all. This was for fun! I was nervous to see if this idea was actually possible, it all sounded so fiddly and messy having to do each layer separately and spreading it out in a thin layer. But after a couple of layers I really got into the swing of things, the trick is to work really quickly while pressing it into the pan, using a piece of baking paper to help flatten out each layer. The most annoying part was having to wash out my saucepan after each layer. Use a non-stick pan if you can, the caked-on bits were a total pain to scrub off.

This doesn't really count as baking since it's just heating and mixing up ingredients in a saucepan but for something so simple it's a ridiculously satisfying snack. I know for sure that kids would love it because it really brought out the silly kid inside me. Plus the fact that I left the butter sitting on the heat too long for a few of the layers it ended up being browned butter rice krispies, which is pretty much the best mistake I've ever made. I mean, look at these ones on Smitten Kitchen, how amazing do they look??

There was some debate about if I should top these squares with a plain white layer of Rice Krispies or not. It might be unnecessary but in the end I think it was the right choice to have the white layer, to cheekily hide all the rainbow colours underneath (it made me think the most fantastic cake in existence, Whisk Kid's rainbow cake). Plus the having the red layer as the top layer looked a bit creepy.

Rainbow Rice Krispies Treats
(Adapted from the Original Treats recipe, makes 25 squares)
1 x 400g pack of marshmallows (I used white & pink ones), about 7 cups
100g butter (approx 7 tbsp)
7 cups rice krispies/rice bubble cereal (approx 280g)
Food colouring (I used mostly liquid, though I did have some Wilton paste as well, use whatever you prefer)

Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper. Place about 1 tbsp (14 g) of butter and one cup of marshmallows (approx 60g) in a medium saucepan and place on low heat, stirring until completely melted. Add purple food colouring and 1 cup of rice krispies (approx 40g), take off the heat and stir until well coated. Using buttered spatula or a piece of wax paper, evenly press mixture into the bottom of the lined tin, trying to make it as even and well-packed as possible. Repeat with the same amount for each other colour; blue, green, yellow, orange and red, pressing each layer tightly over the top of the previous one in the pan. Optional: top with another layer of with no colour added, making it 7 layers in total.

Set aside to cool and set. Lift out of the cake tin and cut into 25 square pieces using a long sharp knife. Best eaten on the same day but can be stored in an airtight container lined with baking paper in the fridge. Can also be frozen for up to 6 weeks.

So if you feel like a colourful, super easy treat, or you need something cute for a party - make these! It's worth the effort.

Popcorn Fudge

That's right. I went there. I told myself I was going to give up on the idea of putting popcorn in a dessert, after several failed attempts and so many other popcorn dessert recipes floating around the internet. But here's what happened; I was making regular old vanilla fudge for A's birthday and I got bored. He didn't want cake. He asked for lasagne, so I made that for him. But as per usual I couldn't resist making something sweet for afterwards. He doesn't like most desserts, but he really likes fudge. Not chocolate fudge, just regular vanilla fudge. So I figured I'd make it for him even though it didn't excite me much.

I started making the fudge, and just happened to be making a batch of fresh popcorn for myself at the same time. I looked at my fudge recipe, and then I looked at my popcorn. YES! It had to be done. I infused the cream with some popcorn and topped off the fudge with more popcorn. It was fantastic. Why had I never thought of this before?! A might have inhaled a ridiculously large portion of lasagne for his early birthday dinner, but when I waved this under his nose he couldn't resist a couple of pieces. After all, it was a deadly combination of two of his favourite snacks. We've been addicted to popcorn recently, (the proper stuff not that awful microwave crap), and the flavour sort of reminded me of the batches of caramel popcorn I sometimes make. Yum.

I've tried quite a few fudge recipes in the past, with varying results. The usual problem I have is that I have trouble getting the fudge to set at the right texture, it's usually a little too soft, a little too chewy. But this recipe was a little more complicated, so I crossed my fingers and gave it a go. Luckily the texture was perfect (ilu Martha). I also threw in some vanilla bean because I had a bit leftover, but feel free to skip it. It's deliciously rich, with the a lightness and crunch from the popcorn. I didn't salt the popcorn on top, but I imagine that would be great for those of you who like the sweet/salty combination in your desserts.

Popcorn Vanilla Bean Fudge
(adapted from this vanilla fudge recipe)
15g (1 tbsp) cold unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1 1/2 cups pouring cream
3 cups sugar
1/4 cup liquid glucose or light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup popping corn kernels, popped

Grease an 20cm square baking pan; line with parchment paper, allowing a 3cm overhang. Grease parchment paper, and set aside. Put butter into a large bowl, and set over a wire rack; set aside. Gently heat cream in a large saucepan with 3/4 of the popped popcorn (set some aside to top off the fudge). Simmer for about 10 mins but do not allow the mixture to come to the boil. Strain mixture. Put popcorn cream, sugar, glucose, vanilla and salt into a medium heavy saucepan.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Raise heat to medium. Bring mixture to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming. Attach a sugar thermometer to pan; continue to cook, without stirring, until mixture registers 238 degrees F(115 degrees C, soft-ball stage), 10 to 15 mins.

Immediately pour mixture into bowl with butter (do not scrape out the bottom of the pan). Attach thermometer to bowl. Let mixture cool, undisturbed, until it registers 110 degrees F (43 degrees C), about 1 1/2 hours.

Remove thermometer. Transfer bowl to a work surface. Using a wooden spoon, begin to gently stir mixture.Continue to stir, gradually increasing speed until mixture thickens, lightens in color, and loses its sheen, 4 to 5 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan. Using a small offset spatula, quickly spread fudge to sides of pan, and smooth top. Sprinkle an even layer of (lightly salted) popcorn over the top of the fudge. Let fudge cool in pan on a wire rack, about 1 hour. Cover with plastic, and refrigerate untilcompletely set, about 8 hours. Run a sharp knife around nonparchment sides to loosen; lift fudge out. Cut into small square pieces (it's rich so the smaller, the better).

Happy Birthday A! Love you long time.

Christmas Tree Marshmallows

I have to admit, it's been difficult for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year. I am in a current state of post-holiday depression, stressed out and all of my family members are overseas. So I'm feeling like a bit of a Scrooge. But here's a cute little recipe that helped lift my spirits - Peppermint and Cocoa Nib Christmas Tree Marshmallows!

Believe it or not, I actually thought of this recipe nearly 5 months ago. We had just had a Christmas in July party and then this idea hit me and I was incredibly bummed that I hadn't thought of it earlier. But it sounded like such a fun and easy idea, I knew I had to remember it for the real Christmas.

I've only attempted marshmallows a couple of times before this, having some great success with my alphabet marshmallows. I much prefer the recipe below, since it uses glucose syrup rather than light corn syrup, which is slightly less evil (I think) and more widely available in Australia. And it was a great recipe to use Lady Mix-a-Lot for, she made everything so much easier! And the marshmallows were SO FLUFFY. Yes, I totally hugged my KitchenAid after this. My Christmas tree cookie cutter was kind of dodgy so these could have looked neater, but you can still tell what they are.

One issue that I did have was that it was rather humid on the day I made the recipe, so I found that one hour wasn't sufficient time to dry these marshmallows out. But after a few more hours and an extra dusting of sugar, they were good to go. I love the combination of mint and chocolate, and I have a love affair with cocoa nibs. I just think they look so good sprinkled on top of anything. I may have gone a little bit overboard with the peppermint flavouring, but I think the bitterness from the cocoa nibs helped to balance it out. If you can't get cocoa nibs, chopped up chocolate or chocolate chips should be fine (and might be slightly more kid-friendly). It's a super easy recipe that is a great treat to bring along to any Christmas party.

Peppermint & Cocoa Nib Marshmallows
(adapted from this homemade marshmallow recipe, makes approximately 24)
500g caster sugar
1 tbs liquid glucose (see note)
2 tbs gelatine powder
2 eggwhites
2 tsp peppermint essence
Green food colouring
1/2 cup (75g) cornflour + 1/2 cup (75g) icing sugar, sifted or 1 cup snow sugar
Cocoa nibs, about 3 tbsp

Grease and line a 18cm x 25cm x 4cm lamington pan. (I also had to use a second 20cm square pan as well) Dust inside of pan with 2 tablespoons icing sugar (or snow sugar). Combine the caster sugar, liquid glucose and 200ml water in a saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and cook over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes until a sugar thermometer reaches 120°C.

Place 200ml cold water in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the powdered gelatine, then stand for 10 minutes. Place the bowl in a saucepan of simmering water and stir until completely clear. Stir the gelatine mixture into the sugar syrup.

Beat eggwhites with electric beaters until stiff peaks form. Continue to beat while you gradually add the sugar syrup, then beat for a further 10 minutes until mixture thickens and becomes glossy. Add green food colouring while this is beating to achieve the right colour. Fold in the peppermint essense and pour the mixture into the pan. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes and then sprinkle cocoa nibs over the surface. Chill for 1 hour until firm.

Combine the remaining icing sugar and cornflour in a bowl (or just use snow sugar), then spread over a tray. Using a Christmas tree shaped cookie cutter, cut out shapes (while trying to minimise waste), and roll each in sugar mixture. Stand for at least 1 hour or overnight to dry. Store in an airtight container. Marshmallows are best eaten within a couple days.

I brought these along with me to the Sydney Food Blogger's Xmas picnic, which was fantastic fun as per usual (Thanks Helen & Suze!). There was so much awesome food and everyone put so much effort in, I felt a little lazy bringing these super easy marshmallows which I had hurriedly whipped up the night before! I'm not sure if I can un-Scrooge myself enough to get any more Christmas recipes out the door in time for the holidays, but we'll have to wait and see!