Chocolate orange creams

I can see that lots of readers have been enjoying the chocolate-orange-fondant chocolates post and it is my favourite flavour combination, so I have come up with another orangey chocolatey creation!

Thinking about Christmas gifts again (sorry family!), I thought that mint creams would keep well, since they're just icing sugar and water with a bit of peppermint extract. Then, I decided I would use the peppermint essence for the marshmallows and use delicious orange oil to flavour these creams. I think I made them a little big because I felt a bit sick after eating two in a row (or maybe that's just because I ate two in a row...). You could also make them any shape you like – holly leaves or star shapes would be suitably festive!

Chocolate orange creams


Icing sugar
A few tablespoons water
Liquid orange essence
Food colouring (if you like)
Dark chocolate (for decorating)


I know this recipe isn't very precise, but I find the best way to make them is to tip about half a box of icing sugar (which seems like an awful lot, and is probably about 500g) into a bowl and start adding water, slowly mixing to a very thick paste. I have found in the past that if I add the water too confidently, I have to add endless amounts of icing sugar, so I think it is best to just get started and see where you end up – do add the water slowly and very sparingly.

Add the food colouring and a few drops of orange essence. It will come together so that you can roll it out on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar and then cut out into shapes. Leave the creams to set on a sheet of greaseproof paper for at least an hour. They will harden up over time.

Melt the chocolate (I used 50g to decorate about 10 creams, but ended up wasting a lot of it) and use it to decorate the creams. I think next time I'm going to cover the surface in chocolate, like a biscuit.

Minty marshmallows

In my effort to find a home-made Christmas gift that will keep well and look pretty (sorry family, this year's gift may not be a surprise!), I tried making marshmallows this weekend. I think they turned out very well – I say think because I don't actually like marshmallows. There's just something about the strange texture and intense sweetness that puts me off. Hubby enjoyed them very much, so they must be good!

I was intrigued by the process of making something out of egg whites, sugar and gelatine, that turns into marshmallow texture. It was a lot of fun to make.

There's a scary amount of gelatine in this recipe but it does make a huge amount of marshmallow, so I'm sure it all works out in the end. You may want to halve the recipe to make a smaller quantity (although I haven't tested that, so let me know how you get on if you try it!).

Minty marshmallows
Leaf gelatin and liquid glucose is available in Waitrose. Recipe adapted from here.

9 sheets sheets leaf gelatine

450 g sugar

1 tbsp liquid glucose

200 ml water

2 large egg whites

1 tsp peppermint extract

icing sugar

cornflour

Food colouring (I used pink and purple to get the colour shown)

Lightly oil a shallow baking tray, about 30 x 20cm and dust it with sieved icing sugar and cornflour. Soak the gelatine in 140ml cold water. 

Put the sugar, glucose and water into a heavy-based pan. Bring to the boiland continue cooking for about 12–15 minutes until the mixture reaches 127 degrees Celsius on a sugar thermometer. When the syrup is up to temperature, carefully slide in the softened gelatine sheets and their soaking water. The syrup will bubble up so take care not to burn yourself. Pour the syrup into a metal jug.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, preferably with an electric whisk in a mixing bowl. Continue whisking while pouring in the hot syrup from the jug. The mixture will become shiny and start to thicken. Add the peppermint extract and food colouring and continue whisking for about 5–10 minutes, until the mixture is stiff and thick enough to hold its shape on the whisk.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth with a wet palette knife if necessary and leave for at least 1 hour to set.

Dust the work surface with icing sugar and cornflour. Loosen the marshmallow around the sides of the tray with a palette knife, and then turn it out on tothe dusted surface. My marshmallow did not want to come out of the tin, so I cut it into strips and coaxed each strip out of the tin. Cut into squares and roll in the sugar and cornflour. Leaveto dry a little on a wire rack.

Store the marshmallows in an airtight container  (I'm experimenting to see how long they last).