Marshmallow Easter Eggs

I absolutely adore Marshmallow Easter Eggs, their soft, fluffy centres and the thin, crisp coating of chocolate on the outside.  They are definitely something I miss when away from New Zealand at Easter.  A few years back the Foodtown magazine published a recipe for Marshmallow Easter Eggs and since then I’ve used it many times to make them for myself and as gifts for others.

The recipe generally works well, but having used it with a number of my students they always discover many ways for to trip things up.  It really does come down to accurate measuring and accurate timing, so follow the recipe carefully and you’ll have your own Marshmallow Easter Eggs to enjoy!

Marshmallow Easter Eggs

Moulding

Flour

1 egg

Marshmallow

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon (7g) powdered gelatine (or 4 sheets of leaf gelatine)

1 cup granulated sugar (200g)

⅓ cup extra water

Food colouring

Coating

375g cooking chocolate

Spread flour evenly in a baking/roasting dish about 2cm deep.  Press the egg down into the flour about halfway to make about 14 oval-shaped hollows, leaving a 2cm gap between each hollow.

 If using powdered gelatine, place the ¼ cup water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over and set aside to swell.  If using the leaf gelatine, place the 4 leaves in a bowl and cover with plenty of water and leave to soften for about 5 minutes.

Place the sugar and ⅓ cup water (plus the ¼ cup water, if using leaf gelatine) in a small saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the gelatine (squeeze out excess water from leaf gelatine) and stir until dissolved.

Bring to the boil and boil steadily for 10 minutes (if using a thermometer it reaches 110⁰C), be careful that it doesn’t overflow or cook at too high temperature, it will burn.

Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes before beating.

 Pour the marshmallow into a heatproof bowl and beat with an electric beater on high speed for 2-3 minutes, until a thick, creamy consistency that is still pourable.  Add food colouring towards the end of beating, if using.  Be careful not to overbeat or it will go hard.

Transfer mixture to a jug and pour the marshmallow into the hollows in the flour, bringing to almost to the top.

Place marshmallow in the fridge to set, about 30 minutes, or out of fridge for about 5-7 hours or overnight.

Line a baking tray with tin foil.

Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water.  You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave, but be careful not to burn it.  If you use regular eating chocolate, add 50g of vegetable shortening to the chocolate while melting, it makes it a lot easier to coat the marshmallow.

Using a fork, gently remove marshmallow from the flour, brushing off any excess flour, dip into the melted chocolate until they are evenly coated.  Place on prepared tray to set.

Eggs can be left as halves or joined to make whole eggs.  Enjoy either way!