Ingredients
- Heart-Shaped Mini Chocolate Marshmallows
- adapted from Saveur #131
- makes ~40 heart-shaped (or ~80 square mini-marshmallows)
- pan spray, for greasing
- 1 1/2 c. sugar
- 3/4 c. light corn syrup
- 1/4 c. honey
- 1/2 c. water
- 3 Tbs. unflavored powdered gelatin, softened in 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/2 c. Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/4 c. Dutch-process cocoa, sifted
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
Preparation
Step 1
Spray a 9" x 9" baking pan, line bottom and sides with parchment paper, and spray paper.
Combine sugar, syrup, honey, and ½ cup water in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer; cook, without stirring, until syrup reaches 250° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat; let cool to 220°.
Meanwhile, bring some water to a boil in a small saucepan. Place bowl of gelatin dissolved in water over boiling water without touching the bowl to the water; whisk until gelatin becomes liquid. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk; add ½ cup cocoa powder. Add the slightly cooled sugar syrup to gelatin; whisk on high speed until mixture holds stiff peaks, ~5–6 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared pan; smooth top with a rubber spatula that has been sprayed, as well. Let cool until set, ~6 hours.
Combine remaining cocoa powder and cornstarch in a bowl and transfer to a strainer; dust work surface with mixture. Slide a knife around edge of pan to release marshmallows; remove from pan. Dust cocoa mixture over top. Dip a small heart-shaped cutter into the cocoa mixture and cut out individual hearts. (alternately, use a slicing knife dusted with cocoa mixture, and cut marshmallows into small squares or rectangles for "regular" mini-marshmallows). Toss marshmallows with remaining cocoa mixture.
*for full-size marshmallows, use an 8" x 8" square pan and cut into 1" thick squares
Once you have your marshmallows all laid out in front of you...beware of the call for hot chocolate that will echo through the room. MmmHmm. They practically BEG for it! And since I hate to disappoint, I went ahead and made some Dark Hot Chocolate spiked with a little booze...inside and on top.
Dark Hot Chocolate (boozy or not)
makes 2 large mugs
4 oz. good quality Dark Chocolate
2 c. whole milk
½ tsp. vanilla extract
bourbon, optional (not optional for me, but...)
Place chocolate, milk, and vanilla in a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat, whisking pretty constantly until it's all melted and combined. Pour a shot of bourbon into a waiting mug and top with hot chocolate.
But wait! We can't stop there. The rich, dark, hot chocolate then pleads for a big plop of boozy whipped cream. You know, to melt down into it. Okay, okay...
Bourbon Whipped Cream
makes ~2 c.
1 c. heavy cream
~2 Tbs. Bourbon
sugar
~½ tsp. vanilla
Place the cream and bourbon in a large bowl. Pour in a little vanilla and some sugar and whip to stiff peaks.