Marshmallow Snowballs
The fluffiest marshmallow cloud, covered in a crispy chocolate shell and sprinkled with coconut; these Marshmallow Snowballs are a must -and not just for the holiday season!
Servings: 10 approx, depending on mold size
Ingredients
Vanilla Marshmallow
- 4 sheets gelatine I use McKenzie's gelatine sheets (from the supermarket)
- 48 g water
- 64 g water
- 180 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- pinch sea salt
Plus
- 250 g milk chocolate I use couverture callets, but any good quality chopped chocolate is also fine
- 1 cup dessicated coconut to decorate
Instructions
Vanilla Marshmallow
- Soak the gelatine leaves in enough cold water to cover the leaves. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, squeeze out the gelatine leaves and place them in a small mixing bowl of your stand mixer. Attach the whisk attachment and add the 64g of water to the gelatine leaves. Whisk on medium.
- While the gelatine is whisking, place the 48g of water in a small saucepan, along with the caster sugar. Over low heat, bring the mixture to a boil, making sure all of the sugar has dissolved.
- Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl to avoid splashes.
- Add the vanilla and sea salt. Turn the mixer to high and whisk for another 10 minutes. Marshmallow will be thick, but still thin enough to pipe.
- Very lightly spray your molds with cooking spray *see note
- Transfer to mixture to a piping bag (either fitted with a 1A nozzle, or just ship the end of the bag off) and pipe into the half sphere molds. (this recipe will make around 10 large snowballs, depending on the size of your mold)
- Place molds into an airtight container and leave to set for 12 hours (I leave them overnight). Alternatively, you can cover the marshmallow with cling wrap, but just spray it very lightly to avoid it sticking.
Dip and Decorate
- Gently peel off the plastic wrap, then remove the marshmallow from the molds. I find wearing disposable gloves and easing and lifting the marshmallow out works best. Leave aside while you melt the chocolate.
- Place chocolate into a microwave safe container (not glass though, as it retains heat and can cause the chocolate to overheat). Start with one minute, then give the chocolate a good stir. Continue with 20 second bursts, stirring well in between and only until the chocolate has just melted. *see notes
- Place the coconut in a small bowl, one that will collect the coconut as you sprinkle it over the marshmallow.
- One by one, dip the marshmallows into the chocolate and lift out with a fork. Tap the fork a few times on the side of the bowl to shake of excess, then hold the fork over the coconut, sprinkling the top and sides with coconut. Place onto a sheet of baking paper to set. Repeat with remaining marshmallows.
- Store snowballs in a sealed container. As the marshmallow is coated in chocolate, it can keep for a couple of weeks (but mine only last a day or 2!)
Notes
- not all silicone molds are created the same and I've had varying results with different molds. For that reason, I now spray my molds very lightly with canola oil. This will make unmolding much easier. Also, I have 3 different 70mm sphere molds, but some are deeper than the others, which is why the quantity of snowballs is approximate.
- glass retains heat and can cause the chocolate to overheat and not temper correctly. The chocolate should be heated until it's almost melted -stirring it will help melt the chocolate and avoid it being overheated.
- you will have a little bit of chocolate left over (and it will likely have some coconut in there!). Add some more coconut to the chocolate, then spread it on a sheet of baking paper to make coconut rough