Given that I’m doing a little afternoon tea series I thought I would share a recipe that I adapted for a lovely lady’s bridal shower recently. It’s a little less traditional than your average, but nice and light, definitely a worthwhile addition to any afternoon tea table. In honour of said bride-to-be I made these marshmallows maple flavoured as she hails from a distant land (Canada).

Some speculation as to whether or not marshmallows are easy enough to make trickled around the bridal shower. My answer in case you are wondering, is that they aren’t the most straightforward, but definitely do-able, and very satisfying. These guys make your house smell incredible too, so if you’re tempted, give it a go!

Disclaimer: don’t make these for vegetarians or you will be met with narrowed eyes. On the upside, they are great for the gluten free. Unless they are vegetarian.

You will need

9 Gelatine sheets

300g/10.5 oz Granulated sugar

100g/3.5 oz Maple syrup

100g/3.5 oz Milk chocolate

2 Egg whites

1 tbsp Liquid glucose (you can find this in a squeeze toothpaste type tube in the baking section)

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Icing sugar

A sugar thermometer

Step one

Lightly oil a deep baking tray/brownie tin. Dust with icing sugar and set aside.

Step two

Put the gelatine sheets in 150ml/3.5 fl oz cold water and leave to soak. I snapped mine in half, but don’t break them up any more than that.

Step three

Put the sugar, glucose and maple syrup in a saucepan (the heavier the better). Add 150ml/3.5 fl oz water and put on a low heat.

Patience is key here as you will feel like eternity is passing you by while you’re waiting for it to get to the right temperature. It’s worth doing this stage slowly so you don’t burn the sugar etc etc. Make sure you have some snacks to hand.

It will smell so good you will want to put your face in it. Don’t.

Step four

When the thermometer reaches about 115C/230F start beating the egg whites. Do this in a glass/metal bowl, as plastic ones tend to be a bit oily, no matter how hard you scrub them.

Step five

When the thermometer reaches 127C/260F turn the heat off and add the soaked gelatine. Don’t add the excess water though, just fish it out and give it a little squeeze. When you do this you will forgive me for not having a photo of it; the mixture fizzes and bubbles in quite an intimidating fashion.

Step six

Get the whisk going in the eggs again, and slowly pour the hot sugar mixture into them as you go. Move the beaters continually so that you don’t end up with a lump of hard sugar at the bottom of the bowl.

Step seven

Add vanilla extract and keep whisking.

Step eight

Whisk some more.

Step nine

Have someone come and support your arm if you need to, but keep on whisking my friend.

Step ten

When the mixture (about 10 minutes later) becomes really thick and gloopy it’s time to stop. Hallelujah. A good measure for this is when bottom of the bowl (on the outside) has cooled down.

Step eleven

Pour the marshmallow into the brownie tin you prepared earlier.

Step twelve

Dust the top with icing sugar and leave to set for a few hours. This is your opportunity to go and see the doctor about the muscle death in your right arm. (Kidding).

Step thirteen

Turn the marshmallow out onto a clean surface with a satisfying flump.

Use a bread knife to cut it into long strips and then cubes. The trick is to make your strips as wide as your mallows are deep to get square(ish) shapes. Dust all the sides in icing sugar as you go.

Generally I find I don’t need any extra icing sugar for this, as a lot comes off the top when you turn it out.

Step fourteen

Place the cubes on a sheet of greaseproof paper. Melt the milk chocolate (slowly in a microwave) and using a piping bag drizzle them lightly. Leave to dry and you’re done!

There we have it. Maple marshmallows. Nowhere near as difficult to make as I made them sound, I promise.