marshmallow hearts

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To be honest, Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean a lot to me. Surely, I like being surprised by a bouquet of flowers, some chocolate or (even more) a cake mould. But it doesn’t have to be on Valentine’s Day. So even though we don’t celebrate this day, I couldn’t resist to make this fluffy and soft marshmallow hearts for my beloved.

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Makes about 20 – 30 marshmallow hearts or cubes (Adapted by David Lebovitz)

• 8 sheets gelatin
• 140 g corn starch
• 140 g confectioners sugar
• 0.8 dl cold water
• 200 g sugar
• 100 g corn syrup
• 4 egg whites at room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 2 vanilla pods
• food colouring

In a bowl, mix the corn stark and the confectioners sugar.

With a sifter, dust a baking tin, about 23cm – 30cm or a square tin about 20cm evenly and completely with a generous layer of the corn stark/confectioners sugar mixture and make sure there are absolutely no bare spots. Set the rest of the mixture aside until using.

In a bowl, soak the gelatin leaves in cold water.

In a small saucepan, fitted with a candy thermometer, mix the sugar, the corn syrup and the water. Place over medium-to-high heat.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, pour in the egg whites and beat on low-speed until frothy. Add the pinch of salt.

When the syrup reaches about 100º C, increase the speed of the mixer to high and beat the whites until they are thick and fluffy.

When the syrup reaches about 118º C, while the mixer is running on high-speed, slowly pour the hot syrup into the whites.

Scrape the gelatin and 2 tablespoon water into the pan that you used for the syrup and swirl it to dissolve.

Pour the liquified gelatin slowly into the egg whites as they are whipping.

Halve the vanilla pods lengthwise and use the tip of a sharp knife to scrape the seeds out of one half. Add the vanilla seeds and the food colouring and continue to whip for 5 minutes, until the mixture is feels cool when you touch the outside of the bowl.

Use a spatula to spread the mixture in a layer on the pan. Allow to dry for overnight, uncovered and in a cool place, but not a refrigerator.

Dust the top of the marshmallows with some of the corn starch/confectioners sugar mixture. Use a pizza cutter or scissors (dusted as well with the corn stark/confectioners sugar mixture) to cut the marshmallows into any size or shape pieces that you’d like and toss the marshmallows in the remaining corn stark/confectioners sugar mixture. Remove the excess powder with a brush.

Enjoy! and Happy Valentine’s Day ♥

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valentine’s day macarons with raspberry filling

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A delicious and home-made-sweet surprise on Valentine’s Day; treat your beloved one with this pretty looking and fruity tasting raspberry Macarons!

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Makes about 40 Macarons:

For the shells:

• 200 g ground almonds
• 200 g confectioners sugar
• 50 ml water
• 200 g sugar
• 2 x 75 g egg white (about 5 eggs)
• Red food coloring

Sift the ground almonds and confectioners sugar together through fine sieve, just make sure it is very fine and pour 75 g of the egg white into the almond-confectioners sugar mixture and set aside.

Place the another 75 g of the egg white into a mixing bowl and whip the egg white to the soft peak. Add some colouring paste to the egg white.

Put the water and sugar in a heavy-base saucepan over medium-high heat.

When the syrup reaches 117°C, take if off the heat and slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl with the whipped egg white.

Continue mixing for about 10 minutes, until the meringue cool down. The whipped egg white will be very stiff and glossy.

Mix a third of the whipped egg white into the almond mixture and combine them well. Fold the rest of whipped egg white into the mixture and mix gently, until the batter is smooth and thick.

Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with 0,8-cm plain tip. Pipe the staggering rows of rounds of the size of a walnut onto baking trays, lined with parchment papers or baking sheets. Tap the underside of the baking sheet to remove air bubbles.

Let the piped shells stand at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes to let the crust forms. When the piped shells are dry to touch without it sticking to your finger, they are good to go into the oven.

Preheat the oven to 170°C and bake the Macarons for about 10 – 12 minutes on the lowest part of the oven.

Remove the tray from the oven and put the Macarons (still on the baking paper) onto a cool bench top. This shocks them and makes them easier to remove from the paper.

For the filling:

• 300 g white chocolate, finely chopped
• 300 g raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 30 g sugar

Stir the raspberries and the sugar in a pan over low heat and bring the mixture to boil. 

Remove the mixture from the heat and blend until smooth, then press the mixture through a sieve over the white chocolate.

Let the chocolate begin to melt, and then stir it gently with a spatula. Set it aside and let it cool completely in the refrigerator, for about 2 hours.

Give the filling on one shell and place the other shell on, slightly twist as you push down so the filling evenly spreads between the two halves.

Store the Macarons in an airtight container in the refrigerator for least 12 hours. Macarons will taste better after they are chilled overnight as the filling flavour will blend in and shells will be less dry. 

Happy Valentine’s Day!