Marshmallows!

Yes I used an exclamation mark in the title, because if you can't get excited about home-made marshmallows then you have no soul. This is another recipe I spotted on Pinterest which piqued my interest. It is not a beginners recipe as at one point there are 2 bowls and one pan of sugar syrup on the go at the same time but I'm proud to say I managed to get everything to come together properly. The only thing I kinda messed up with the 'marbleizing' technique, which looks pretty on top, but as you can see from the picture below didn't go all the way through the marshmallow. I let everything set overnight and dusted an icing sugar \ cornflour mix over the cut up pieces the next day. These are lovely, very like those 'Princess' mallows you can buy, but fluffier. This is definitely a recipe I'll try again, but next time I'll do a better job on the marbleizing.

Apple Cider Caramels

This was my first attempt at making caramels and I messed it up. The recipe said to keep the sugar syrup on medium high heat, but the candy thermometer wasn't going anywhere near the required temperature. After some thought a bit of googling (all while the syrup was bubbling away) I crossed my fingers and whacked the heat up to high. Finally the thermometer started to creep up to the proper temperature, but it took a good 30 minutes of boiling to get there.

Once the syrup had cooled enough to hold its shape I took a knife to it and started cutting it into bars which made it MUCH easier to cut into squares once it had cooled completly. What makes these caramels a little different from other caramels is the apple cider that was reduced down from 2 cups to 1/3 cup before I even started making the syrup. I'd like to try this with a good cider or apple juice to increase the apple flavour.

Once I got the caramels cut into squares, which actually involved leaning heavily on a knife and waiting for the caramel to break, I wrapped them in wax paper twists. These things are really good but you need to suck them a bit to soften them up - during which time as some friends of mine found out - you won't be able to speak for a few minutes.

Chocolate Robots

Ahh chocolate how I love you. But first to make some fondant. I looked up recipes online and they all seemed pretty simple, water, sugar and corn syrup brought to a rolling boil of about 125 degrees. But when I looked at comments under these 'simple' recipes it seemed to be all doom and gloom. 'I ruined my pot' said one. 'The sugar syrup destroyed my pans' cried another. So when I did it I made sure to follow the recipe to the letter. I also dumped the pot in boiling hot soapy water once I'd poured it onto the metal tray to cool to ensure I didn't 'destroy my pans!'.

As it turned out the fondant was really dead easy. I let the syrup cool on a cookie sheet and then started the slow folding movement that turned the syrup from sticky and clear to stiff bright white. Then I dumped it onto a table with some icing sugar and kneaded it until it was smooth although it

was still hot, so I had to stop every couple of minutes to be sure not to burn my hands. Once I had it shaped I wrapped it in wax paper, stuck it in a ziploc and left it to 'ripen' for a couple of days.

I wasn't sure how long the chocolates would last and as I wanted them for a party on Saturday I made them up on Thursday evening. Using a makeshift bain marie out of my 'does everything' pot and a ceramic bowl I melted half the chocolate and half filled the molds. Then I melted a lump of fondant down adding some lemon juice for flavour and stirring constantly. The fondant melted down to a smooth cream which I spooned into the molds and then filled the rest of the way with the chocolate.

I've read a lot about tempering chocolate and it all says that you shouldn't refrigerate it to save it from 'blooming' but I wasn't thinking straight (high on chocolate fumes) and I only had one mold and enough chocolate for 2 dozen so I put it into the fridge for about 20 minutes before I could make the next batch. The chocolates turned out lovely and shiny, thanks be to the silicone molds which are dead handy for popping out chocolates. The lemon juice took a bit of the sweetness from the fondant which meant they weren't too cloying and the robots went down a treat at the party.