Marshmallow

Easter is not only a good excuse to eat chocolatebut also a great opportunity to have some fun in thekitchen with the kids.

Liz Gore from Vetro Tauranga remembers her mum, a cooking teacher in Rotorua (now retired), making marshmallow eggs every year. It started as a treat for her best students. Liz says, according to her mum, “they are quite tricky, not to mention messy therefore only those kids with skills could give it a go”.

One year she made a batch for all the teachers and a tradition began. “Every year she would make this big batch of eggs” remembers Liz. “I would get roped in to help and my job was always making the egg moulds with the flour, in our big roasting tray. The sad thing was I wasn’t allowed to touch because they were for the teachers! Obviously, she always miscounted and there were some spares for us too.”

Liz thinks the original recipe might have come from an old Hansell’s recipe book as it used their food colouring and gelatine. We have adapted the recipe slightly and as Liz says, “With all the lovely Fresh As powders, beautiful Nielson Massey extracts and Callebaut chocolate, we are now lucky enough to be able to gourmet these up.”

Liz’s mum’s ingenious way of forming egg shapes was to fill a large roasting pan with flour and then make indentations in the flour with a real egg. The marshmallow was then poured into these indentations. After sandwiching two together, she would dip them in chocolate (with a little kremalta or you could use coconut oil) and sometimes, to Liz’s delight, they would be rolled in coconut. I can see why these were messy and take my hat off to Mrs Gore for her skills in churning vast numbers of these out each Easter. I, on the other hand, am always looking for the easy way, so below are a couple of ways you and the kids can enjoy making marshmallow treats at your place without too much mess.

RECIPES VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

MARSHMALLOW

4 sheets of gold gelatine leaf

½ cup hot water

½ cup sugar

½ cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Soak the gelatine in cold water.

In a small pot dissolve the sugar in the water. Squeeze out the water from the gelatine and stir into the sugar syrup. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for six minutes then take off the heat and allow to cool for 5–10 minutes.

Add the icing sugar and vanilla and beat with an electric beater until thick and creamy.

TO MAKE MARSHMALLOW SHAPES

Sift ¼ cup cornflour and ¼ cup icing sugar onto an oven tray or board. Pour the marshmallow on top and allow it to set before cutting into desired shapes.

Use a heaped tbsp of Fresh As powder (available at Vetro Tauranga) to flavour and colour the marshmallow.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW EGG

Before making the marshmallow, coat chocolate egg moulds with melted chocolate and allow to set. I used the gorgeous Callebaut Chocolate Ghana 70% Dark Callets, my go-to chocolate chips and available at Vetro Tauranga.

Make the marshmallow and pour into the moulds. If you want to make a ‘yolk’, make a small indentation in the middle on each egg and fill with caramel (I used the Bonne Manan Caramel). Sandwich the two sides of the eggs together and allow to set overnight before carefully taking out of the mould.

Visit Vetro Tauranga for all you need to make delicious Easter treats, from gelatine leaf to Callebaut chocolate, gorgeous dried fruit and candied peel to pomegranate molasses. 111 Third Ave, Tauranga