During Cupcake a Day May I came across many things that had to go into the “to be baked” queue on the grounds that they simply couldn’t be made as cupcakes. One such thing was a Marshmallow Slice. My mum used to make a swiss-roll pan of Marshmallow Slice before we went on a long holiday, and it was a yummy treat – short biscuit base, marshmallow and chocolate. Now that we are layering up in June, it seems like the right time to make this slice!
Mum’s slice was just the three components, but I thought it would be fun to have some more options – so you could pick and choose a bit, so I’ve come up with four options:
Classic Marshmallow Slice
Salted Peanut Caramel Marshmallow Slice
Chocolate Mousse Marshmallow Slice.
Raspberry Jelly Marshmallow Slice.
The best of it is, you can make them all in the same pan if you want! They all have the same base, they all have the same marshmallow, they all have chocolate on the top – all you have to do is put your fillings in a row – and I’ll show you how to do it.
4 Way Marshmallow Slice
makes 48 inch-square pieces, 12 in each flavour.
Shortbread Base
ingredients
250g salted butter, cold, cut into cubes
250g flour
60g icing sugar
mixing
Line a 20×30 cm deep swiss roll pan with baking paper, including the sides. the easiest way to do this is to fold all the sides up in one sheet of paper, and crease at the corners like half a wrapped present. I always hold the corners together with a staple or two as well.
Place all the ingredients into a food processor and process until the mixture starts to clump together into a dough. Alternatively you can place all the ingredients into a large bowl and rub the butter into the dry mixture with your fingers until a dough forms.
Press the dough into the prepared pan, and smooth with a spatula or dough scraper as shown. Prick the base all over with a fork.
Bake the shortbread base at 210 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, until golden. Let cool.
Assembly
Prepare the salted peanut caramel, raspberry jelly and chocolate mousse, in that order. The caramel is made first because it needs to cool before use. The jelly is made second because it needs to begin to set before use. The mousse is made last because you don’t want it to set too much! Now I’m going to tell you how to put everything together, as shown in the photo below.
Make a shallow cut halfway along the length of the shortbread base, and two more halfway along each half, to get long quarters. Cut three pieces of clean cardboard so that they will neatly fit into each cut. Spray these with non-stick spray. Insert a piece of cardboard into each cut.
Spread the (still slightly warm, but no longer runny) salted peanut caramel into the first quadrant. Spread the chocolate mousse into the second quadrant. Carefully remove the cardboard between the caramel and the chocolate and smooth the interface if needed (a little of the mixture will come off with the card, don’t worry about that). Place in the fridge to set for a bit.
When the raspberry jelly has begun to gel (it will look like thick jam), spread this into the third quadrant, and remove the card between the chocolate and the raspberry. Return the slice to the fridge to let the jelly set completely.
Meanwhile make the marshmallow.
When the marshmallow is done, remove the card holding the raspberry jelly, and spread about 3/4 of a cup of marshmallow into the final quadrant. Then, carefully spread the remaining marshmallow over the entire top of the slice. Refrigerate until set.
Meanwhile make the chocolate topping, and let it cool.
When the marshmallow is all set, remove it from the refrigerator and take the slice out of the tin. Peel back the paper from the sides. Tip all the chocolate over the top of the marshmallow and spread out carefully with a spatula. If desired, after the chocolate is all spread out, make wavy or straight patterns in the chocolate with the edge of the spatula or a fork. Refrigerate the slice until the chocolate has set.
To cut the slice, first score the chocolate topping with a hot knife, pressing down into the chocolate just enough so that the chocolate melts and separates – don’t cut into the marshmallow! Make cuts to separate each of the four quadrants (you can see at the edges where the cut should start and end), then cut as desired. To make inch- square portions, you need to cut each quadrant into two lengthways and then into six widthways. Scoring the chocolate means that you will get clean slices without a broken topping. It’s really important – don’t forget to do it – if you don’t the broken pieces of topping may press into the marshmallow as you try to cut the slice and destroy your layers!
When you have scored all the chocolate, you can use a clean cold knife to cut the slice. If want your marshmallow to stay white and pretty, you need to clean the knife after each cut, especially with the chocolate mousse and raspberry jelly quadrants!
Salted Peanut Caramel
ingredients
60g caster sugar
15 mL water
30mL cream, warmed
50g butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
mixing
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat over high heat, shaking the pan often, until the sugar starts to dissolve and the mixture starts to boil. Let the mixture boil, shaking the pan often, until the sugar syrup starts to caramelise. This will happen quite rapidly. Sugar syrup keeps cooking when you remove it from the heat, so take the pan off the heat as soon as a golden colour starts to form. You can always put it back on the heat for a few seconds to continue to caramelise the syrup.
Let the caramel syrup sit for a few seconds and then carefully add the cream in a thin stream, stirring constantly. The mixture will bubble up ferociously and a lot of steam will be generated so take care not the burn yourself! When all of the cream has been incorporated, return pan to the heat and stir constantly until the mixture is smooth. Add the salt to taste. Let the caramel cool a little, then stir in the butter, stirring until completely incorporated.
Just before using, stir in the chopped peanuts.
Raspberry Jelly
ingredients
120g raspberries (frozen is fine, thaw them first)
2 tbsp sugar
pinch vanilla powder
1 tbsp water
2 leaves gelatin (I use leaves rather than powdered gelatin because they have less flavour)
mixing
Puree the raspberries, sugar, vanilla and water together until very smooth. Pass the puree through a sieve, until there are only seeds left. Discard the seeds. Soak the gelatin leaves in cold water for about 10 minutes. Heat the puree until nearly boiling. Squeeze the water out of the gelatin leaves, and add to the hot puree, stirring so that the gelatin dissolves and everything is well combined. Refrigerate until the mixture starts to gel.
Chocolate mousse
ingredients
50g caster sugar
30 mL water
1 egg yolk (reserve the egg white for making the marshmallow!)
pinch salt
60g 70% cocoa chocolate, melted
50 mL cream, whipped
mixing
Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat on a medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Let the syrup boil until it reaches 116 degrees Celsius on a candy thermometer.
While the mixture is coming to temperature, beat the egg yolk in a small bowl with an electric mixer until it starts to froth slightly.
When the syrup is the right temperature, pour into the egg yolk in a thin stream, beating all the while with an electric mixer. The mixture will froth up and become very thick and pale. Beat until the mixture is cool. Fold in the melted chocolate. Add the whipped cream, and beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Marshmallow
ingredients
1 tbsp powdered gelatin
60mL water
1 cup sugar
90mL water, extra
1 1/2 tsp liquid glucose
1/2 egg white (about 20g)
pinch vanilla powder
pinch salt
mixing
Sprinkle the gelatin over the 60mL measure of water and allow to swell.
Combine sugar and the 90mL measure of extra water in a small saucepan over medium heat, shaking the pan occasionally until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Add the liquid glucose and stir til combined. Let the syrup boil until it reaches 126 degrees Celsius on a candy thermometer.
While the mixture is coming to the right temperature, sit the gelatin water mixture over some hot water and stir to dissolve the gelatin (you can alternatively carefully heat it in the microwave for a few seconds at a time, but DO NOT LET IT BOIL). Transfer the dissolved gelatin into a medium bowl and have an electric mixer standing by.
When the syrup has come to the right temperature, pour the syrup immediately in a thin stream into the gelatin mixture, whisking all the time. Let this mixture stand while you prepare the egg white.
Beat the egg white in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. With the mixer running, pour the syrup/gelatin mixture over the egg white in a thin stream. Beat the marshmallow until it is almost cold, then beat in the salt and vanilla.
Chocolate topping
160g 60% cocoa chocolate
25g unsalted butter
Melt the chocolate. Stir in the butter, until the mixture is smooth.
So there you have it! Of course you could make all of one flavour – just make quantities as set out below.
Classic Marshmallow Slice
Make double the marshmallow, no other fillings
Salted Peanut Caramel Marshmallow Slice
Quadruple the Salted Peanut Caramel recipe – make a single batch of marshmallow.
Chocolate Mousse Marshmallow Slice
Quadruple the Chocolate Mousse recipe – make a single batch of marshmallow.
Raspberry Jelly Marshmallow Slice
Quadruple the Raspberry Jelly recipe – make a single batch of marshmallow.
Enjoy!xxx
