Recipe: Cookie Dough Marshmallow Brownies

As if I needed any encouragement to get baking, yesterday was World Baking Day. A day in which people worldwide pledged to bake for loved ones in a bid to show them how much they care. Whether it be for friends, family or loved ones, its always nice to share something baked over a nice cuppa.

These brownies were a little mix of two recipes I'd been eyeing up, although they only came together due to one not quite going to plan. There's nothing more disconcerting than the first bake of a new book you've bought not coming out right.

In this instance, cookie dough swirled marshmallows from The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook I made earlier in the week. There's nothing better than a plump homemade marshmallow, but I think a combination of not enough or old gelatine leaves from the back of the cupboard made for not very firm marshmallows. They tasted great, but couldn't be sliced so I boxed them up and saved them until I found a way of using them. After watching over molten sugar and whisking away from a long time, I couldn't bear to waste them.

Brownies are probably my most favourite thing to make, pretty straightforward but can be so versatile. I enjoy trying out different brownie recipes to compare and to hopefully find the best ever recipe. Lisa Faulkner's Tea and Cake is another recently new book of mine so I was intrigued to see how her brownie recipe went.

Without a doubt, the recipe itself was the most straightforward I've tried with the least number of ingredients in. I shall definitely be bookmarking it for future for when I'm short of cupboard ingredients, i.e. don't have 4 bars of fancy dark chocolate in to spare. 500g of sugar probably ranks in at the highest sugar content out of other recipes I've tried, however.

And so became the base of my weekend brownies, cookie dough marshmallows swirled into dark chocolate brownies.

I used half of the batch of marshmallows which melted in to form the most chewy, gooey, fudgy brownies I've ever made. Due to the golden syrup in the marshmallows they tasted caramel-like and very dense.

You could definitely get away with using more than half the batch of marshmallows though. Try pouring two thirds of the brownie mix into the pan, dollop a layer of marshmallow on top and swirl over the remaining brownie batter.

Other options: use your own regular cookie dough, shop bought marshmallows or alternatively a bar of your favourite chocolate chopped into chunks to fold through the mix. Brownies are versatile!

Cookie dough marshmallow brownies
(Makes 12)

For the cookie dough marshmallows:
(makes about 24 marshmallows)

Butter an 8 x 8 inch baking tray using 2 tbsp unsalted butter and sprinkle over a few generous spoons of icing sugar ensuring to coat the sides and corners.

To make the cookie dough, combine 80g softened unsalted butter with 30g caster sugar and 50g soft light brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add 2 tbsp milk, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and a pinch of salt and mix well. Add 55g plain flour and continue to mix until well incorporated.

Pour 75ml of cold water into the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle in 2 packets of unflavoured gelatin. Leave to soften for 5 minutes.

In a medium saucepan on medium heat, melt together 50g soft light brown sugar and 215g caster sugar with 170ml golden syrup. Stir the mix continuously until the sugars dissolve and start to boil. Stop stirring, cover with a lid and leave to boil for 2 minutes. Uncover and continue to boil until the mixture reaches 238 Fahrenheit / soft boil on a sugar thermometer. Do not stir. Once it reaches this temperature, remove from heat.

Turn on the stand mixer with the gelatin to a low speed with a whisk attachment. Slowly pour the hot sugar down the side of the bowl to cool. Increase to a medium-high speed and whisk until the mixture is thick, shiny and slightly cooled. This should take 13-15 minutes. Beat in 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Dollop in spoons of the cookie dough and fold in gently by hand.

Pour into your prepared tin, smooth over the top with a warm buttered knife. Sprinkle with a handful of chocolate chips and leave to set in the tin for 4  hours (or overnight).

To enjoy as regular marshmallows, lift out of the tin once set and use a rolling pizza knife to cut into bite-size pieces. Marshmallows will keep in an airtight container for up to one week.

For the brownies, grease and line an 8 x 8 inch baking tin and heat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Grate 125g dark chocolate into a medium saucepan and add 150g unsalted butter cubed, melt on a low heat until smooth and combined.

Whisk together 4 large eggs and 500g caster sugar until pale and smooth. Stir in melted chocolate pouring down the side of the bowl to help cool slightly.

Sift in 175g plain flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt and gently fold in. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin.

Dollop in drops of cookie dough marshmallow and use the end of a spoon to gently swirl a little brownie mix around.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top firms. Once baked, leave for an hour to cool before slicing.

Brownies will last for a week stored in an airtight container.

Recipe: Spiced Sweet Potato Cake with Marshmallow Frosting

I'll make pretty much anything to use up what's lurking around in the cupboard or fridge. I hate to waste food. Usually this involves some form of dinner which, in my family, is known as an 'around the world dinner'. By this, you can expect any combination of leftovers of all sorts of cuisines.

I couldn't quite face eating a bag full of sweet potatoes to myself this week so set out to find a suitable use for them. After making a few pumpkin cakes with cans of Libby's last year I was keen to try sweet potato and see how they compare.

This sweet potato cake is slightly more dense than the pumpkin ones I made last year and has much more flavour. But, if you do have a can of Libby's pumpkin purée hanging around, you can substitute with the same quantity.

Spiced sweet potato cake with marshmallow frosting
(Recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

680g sweet potatoes (approximately 2-3)
115g unsalted butter, room temperature
190g soft light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves, or mixed spice

Marshmallow frosting:

3 large egg whites
180g golden caster sugar
pinch pf salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Prick the sweet potatoes all over and roast in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes. They may need a turning a few times. Once cooked they'll be soft and look a little deflated. Leave to cool completely. If you're baking in advance, leave them in the fridge for up to 3 days, otherwise give them plenty of time to cool before moving onto the cake.

Heat the oven to 170 degrees and grease and line an 8 - 9 inch round springform tin, or an 8 - 9 inch square tin.

Peel the sweet potatoes and mash until smooth (don't be tempted to blitz in the blender, your mix will be too loose).

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.

Gently fold in the sweet potato, followed by all the dry ingredients. Continue until well incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, smooth the top with a knife and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Once baked, a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

To make the frosting, add the egg whites, sugar, salt and cream of tartar to a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk for approximately 3 minutes, until the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and continue to whisk with an electric mixer for a further 4 - 7 minutes on a high speed, until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

To decorate, spread a thin layer of the marshmallow onto the cake with a palette knife or spatula. Then, with a piping bag or sandwich bag, pipe small dollops over the thin frosting layer. With a kitchen torch, lightly brown the marshmallow dollops until browned.

Find my recipe for sweet potato brownies here if you'd like to try them another way.

Alternatively, you could substitute the same quantity of pumpkin for sweet potato in my spiced pumpkin mini cakes or in my pumpkin praline cake.

Mini Marshmallow Cakes

   A very wet, cold and miserable week has just past. I figured that the only way to survive such a week was with marshmallows and cake.

Rocky Road

Not a recipe post as such, but I thought I'd share the homemade treats I've been enjoying this week

   These have been the most successful rocky roads I've made to date, and the most simple. Just 1 packet of smashed biscuits and a scattering of mini marshmallows coated in 3 bars of melted milk chocolate and left to set in a 20cm square tin.

   I used chocolate digestives, but ginger biscuits or cookies work very well also. Smashed up crunchie bars can make these even more naughty.

Coconut Marshmallows

     For some time now I have toyed with the idea of making my own marshmallows. I'll be honest, recipes like these scare me. Marshmallows, caramel...anything with hot molten sugar. The idea of hovering over a sugar thermometer makes me so anxious.

     But since I'm a little bit in love with Bea's of Bloomsbury and would like to master everything that they serve, I decided to be brave. And, it worked. Although I think it may have been a little more beginners luck than anything else.

     I used a recipe from Annalise's blog, the measurements are in both American cups and grams etc. After spending what felt like forever reading various recipes and watching YouTube videos, I decided that this one seemed to be the most straightforward.

Makes 30-40 marshmallows (depending on the size you cut them).

     1 cup desiccated coconut
     1 cup (8 fluid ounces) cold water
     25g gelatin
     460g granulated sugar
     1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces) golden syrup
     1/4 teaspoon salt
     2 large egg whites
     1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
     1 teaspoon coconut extract (I couldn't find any so just used more vanilla)

It really is important to have everything measured out before you start as there's some parts of the recipe that are time critical. Also, use a whisk attachment on a stand mixer.

• Grease the sides of a 9x13 inch baking dish and dust with coconut.
• Add half the water and all of the gelatin into the mixer and leave to soften.
• Combine sugar, golden syrup, the remaining water and salt over a low heat.
• When the sugar has fully dissolved increase the heat to medium and bring to boil.
• Continue to cook the sugar mix without stirring until a sugar thermometer reads 240 degrees F (around 115 deegres C).
• Poor the melted sugar mix over the gelatin in the mixer as soon as it reaches this temperature. Stir until the gelatin is dissolved.
• Beat on a high speed until the mix has turned from a light caramel colour to white and has tripled in volume. Approximately 6 minutes.
• Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until they just about hold a stiff peak. Add the eggs and vanilla/coconut extract until well combined.
• Pour the marshmallow into the prepared dish and sprinkle with more coconut. Leave to set for at least 3 hours, I left mine overnight.
• To get the marshmallow out the dish, you may need to do a little poking with a palette knife but it does come out fairly easily.
• Slice into small cubes and toss in more coconut as the sliced edges will be a little sticky.

Will last up to a week in an airtight container.

I'm excited to try some different flavours now!