Chocolate Marshmallow Cake

I quite like to wander round Harvey Nichols Food Hall and look at all of their imported food stuffs and generally ponder what I would make with them. The big jars of Marshmallow Fluff with their retro US packaging always stand out but as yet I've never bought one.  

I was recently sent a copy of Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever to review and when I saw it contained a recipe for Homemade Marshmallow Creme I figured I would prefer to make my own, knowing what was in it, rather than a shop bought version.  This book is packed full of marshmallows of all types and flavours, which I really do think will be the next big thing in the UK. Even the cover is soft and slightly squishy like the creations in it. If you want to know how to make marshmallows then this is definitely the book for you.

I was slightly daunted at first by the idea of making the Marshmallow Creme, especially as the recipe involved a sugar thermometer. In reality though it was pretty straightforward to make. One of the key ingredients is Corn Syrup which isn't readily available in the UK. I substituted Maple Syrup for it and found it worked perfectly. Now I have mastered the marshmallow creme I think I will try progressing onto one of the more adventurous receipes such as Malibu and even Pineapples-Rosemary Marshmallows. 

The book contains a recipe for Chocolate-Marshmallow Roulade.  I basically made the roulade mixture and baked it but I made mine into a square layered cake rather than rolling it up.  The cake has a definite strong coffee taste coming through. I'm not a big fan of coffee cake but found in this instance it worked really well with the chocolate and its slight bitterness was needed against the very sweet Marshmallow Creme filling.  The cake is topped off with chocolate ganache. It's unfortunately not my finest photo ever but if you are looking for a very indulgent special occasion cake then this is it. 

The Recipe

Chocolate-Marshmallow Cake

6 oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

3oz unsalted butter

1 cup plain flour

3 tblspns unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tspn baking powder

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cups strong brewed coffee (I made an espresso)

1.  Preheat the oven to 270c.  Line a 12x17x1 inch baking sheet with parchment paper and coat with cooking spray.  

2. Place the butter and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Melt in the microwave, with 30 second bursts of high power, stirring well after each interval.  Sift together the flour, cocoa, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Beat the eggs and sugar until tripled in volume, about 5 mins.  Reduce the speed to low and stir in the cooled chocolate mixture.  Stir in the dry ingredients and coffee in three alternating additions.  

3.  Pour the batter into the prepared tin.  Bake for 15 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Invert it on to clean tea towel covered with a sheet of clean parchment.  Peel back the parchment from the cake. Roll it if making a roulade or just leave to cool as it is if not.

Marshmallow Creme

The Syrup

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup (I used maple syrup)

1/4 cup water

1/8 tspn salt

The Fluff

2 large egg whites, at room temp

1/4 tspn cream of tartar

The Mallowing

1 1/2 tspn vanilla extract

1.  Stir together the sugar, maple syrup, water and salt in a small saucepan over a high heat.  Boil, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 240F (you will need a sugar thermometer to check this).

2.  Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl and whip them until they are in soft peaks. 

3. When the syrup reaches 240F, slowly drizzle about 2 tbspns of it into the egg whites to warm them (if you add too much at once the egg whites will scramble).  Slowly drizzle in the rest of the syrup, increasing the mixing speed.  Beat until the marshmallow creme is stiff and glossy.  Towards the end of the beating time, beat in the vanilla. The creme will keep for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

4. Use the creme to fill your roulade or sandwich your cake layers together. The original recipe suggested adding in some butter to the creme to make the filling richer but I liked it as it was.

Finally top the cake with a chocolate ganache glaze (100g dark chocolate melted with a small tub of double cream).