Peppermint Marshmallows

Peppermint Marshmallows

December 9th.

These peppermint marshmallows are a great little treat or dessert. But I think they would be perfect on a cup of hot chocolate on a cold day. You can also make them as gifts for the hostess at the next holiday party, you're going to. The marshmallows  look really festive and who would not like to get a homemade gift made with love?

Ingredients:

• 120 ml water

• 21 g (3 envelopes) gelatin

• 120 ml water

• 400 g sugar

• 240 g light corn syrup

• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

• pink food coloring

Decorating:

• Melted dark chocolate

• 1-3 candy canes, crushed

Directions:

Grease bottom and sides of 11x7-inch glass baking dish with coconut oil. Dust it with sifted confectionary sugar, and set aside. 

In the bowl for the stand mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 120 ml cold water and let it sit to bloom/soften.

In a saucepan heat granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt and 120 ml water over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Heat to boiling, and cook without stirring until the temperature reaches  240°F (115℃) on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.

Start whisking the softened gelatin on low, and slowly pour in the syrup. Increase speed to high, and keep whisking for about 10 minutes until white and almost tripled in volume. Add peppermint extract and food coloring and keep whisking on high for another minute. 

Pour the sticky mixture into the prepared baking dish, patting lightly with wet hands. Sprinkle a thick layer of sifted confectionary sugar on top, and let stand uncovered for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Dust a cutting board with about 1 tablespoon sifted confectionary sugar. Place remaining powdered sugar in small bowl. Place the big marshmallow on the cutting board and using a pizza slicer cut the marshmallow into the desired size, or use small cookie cutters to cut marshmallows into fun shapes. Dust the freshly cut sides of each marshmallow by dipping them into bowl of confectionary sugar. 

Store marshmallows in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 weeks.

I dipped the marshmallows in melted chocolate an sprinkled with crushed candy cane.

Bounty Christmas Trees

Bounty Christmas Trees

December 6th

These cute christmas trees is a no bake sweet. They are really easy to make, you just have to have some patience because there's some waiting time for the drying.

Ingredients:

• 300 g shredded coconut

• 200 g sweetened condensed milk

Decorating:

• Dark chocolate

• Coconut oil

• Shredded coconut

• Green fruit coloring

Directions:

Mix the condensed milk with the coconut, until you have a cohesive mass. Place the coconut in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. And press it to an even layer about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick. 

Cover the pan with som plastic wrap, and let it sit to dry for 4 hours or over night. Remove from pan and cut into small pointed triangles, see picture. 

Let the triangles dry for a bit. 

Add the additional coconut to a plastic tub (use an old one or a cheep one) pour some drops of food color into the coconut, and shake to color the coconut.  

Melt chocolate and coconut oil in an double boiler. You should temper the chocolate for a better result. 

Dip the triangles in the melted chocolate and sprinkle with the green coconut. 

Enjoy!

Christmas Cream Puffs - Pebermynteflødeboller

Christmas Cream Puffs - Pebermynteflødeboller

December 2nd.

Peppermint is one of the most recognized tastes of Christmas. Red and white is classic christmas colors and you see candy canes and peppermint flavored coffee and chocolate everywhere. So why not make peppermint cream puffs/flødeboller. Even though cream puffs can be eaten all year round, these are very christmasy.  

Ingredients:

Makes 20.

Base:

• 200 g marzipan

Filling:

• 100 g (little over ⅓ cup) pasteurized egg whites 
• 200 g (1 cup) sugar 
• 50 ml (a little under ¼ cup) water
• a few drops peppermint extract

Chocolate coating:

• 200-250 g milk chocolate, a good one I used Valrhona

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).

Cut the marzipan log into 20 slices. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the marzipan for 5 minutes, let them cool completely.

Filling:

When making meringue it is very important that there are no fat residue on your bowl and whisk, otherwise the egg whites won't get fluffy.

The cream puffs without coating

Whisk the egg whites until they just turn fluffy. Meanwhile heat sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and keep it simmering until it reaches 243℃ (117℃). 

Pour in the scolding hot syrup into the egg whites while whisking. The meringue becomes pretty warm, but keep whisking for 15 minutes, until stiff peaks. Gently fold in the peppermint extract.

Add the meringue to a piping bag with a plain round tip. Pipe the meringue in a high peak.

Bake the cream puffs for 5 minutes, just until the surface sets, but haven't got any color. This makes it easier to cover in chocolate. Let the cream puffs cool completely.

Tempering the chocolate:

This is how I do it, but if you have your own way, that works for you, use that method.

Chop the chocolate finely, set just under ⅕ of the chocolate aside, and add the rest into a stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl on a saucepan with very hot water (don't let the bowl touch the water) . Let the chocolate melt while stirring. When the chocolate reaches 111℉ (44℃), take the bowl off the hot water. While stirring let the chocolate cool until it reaches 80-83℉ (27-28℃), add the rest of the chopped chocolate and stir vigorously until its all melted. Put the bowl with chocolate over hot water again, and heat the chocolate to 86℉ (30℃). Now its ready to use for coating.

Coating:

Place the cream puffs on a wire rack. Drizzle the chocolate on top until the whole peak is covered with chocolate. Tap the wire rack on the counter to get the excess chocolate to run off. Place the cream puffs in the refrigerator for a few minutes until the chocolate has set. 

The cream puffs will keep 3 days a 50-54℉ (10-12℃).

Enjoy!

Liquorice Ghosts aka Liquorice Cream Puffs

Liquorice Ghosts aka Liquorice Cream Puffs

These liquorice ghosts or cream puffs are called flødeboller in Danish. Directly translated it means cream rolls, even though  there are no cream and no roll in them.  Basically it’s a wafer, or cookie, with an Italian meringue filling, and covered with chocolate. It is so so yummy, it should be illegal to make or sell.

Growing up, flødeboller was the go-to treat to bring to share at school at your birthday. And it is easy to make up games eating flødeboller, but one thing for sure, it will be messy. 

To make cream puffs it is recommended that you have a electric hand-mixer or even better a stand mixer, because you have to whisk vigorously for more than 15 minutes. 

Makes 20 medium flødeboller

Ingredients:

Base:

• 200 g liquorice marzipan or regular marzipan

Filling:

• 100 g (little over ⅓ cup) pasteurized egg whites

• 200 g ( 1 cup) sugar

• 50 ml (a little under ¼ cup) water

• 2 teaspoons fine liquorice powder

Chocolate coating:

• 200-250 g white chocolate, a good one I used Valrhona

• 25 g dark chocolate

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).

Cut the marzipan log into 20 slices. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the marzipan for 5 minutes, let them cool completely.

Filling:

When making meringue it is very important that there are no fat residue on your bowl and whisk, otherwise the egg whites won't get fluffy.

The naked ghost

Whisk the egg whites until they just turn fluffy. Meanwhile heat sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring it to a boil and keep it simmering until it reaches 243℃ (117℃). 

Pour in the scolding hot syrup into the egg whites while whisking. The meringue becomes pretty warm, but keep whisking for 15 minutes, until stiff peaks. Gently fold in the liquorice powder.

Add the meringue to a piping bag with a plain round tip. Pipe the meringue in a high peak.

Bake the cream puffs for 5 minutes, just until the surface sets, but haven't got any color. This makes it easier to cover in chocolate. Let the cream puffs cool completely.

Tempering the chocolate:

This is how I do it, but if you have your own way, that works for you, use that method.

Chop the chocolate finely, set just under ⅕ of the chocolate aside, and add the rest into a stainless steel bowl. Set the bowl on to a saucepan with very hot water (don't let the bowl touch the water) . Let the chocolate melt while stirring. When the chocolate reaches 102℉ (39℃), take the bowl off the hot water. While stirring let the chocolate cool until it reaches 79-82℉ (26-27℃), add the rest of the chopped chocolate and stir vigorously until its all melted. Put the bowl with chocolate over the hot water again, and heat the chocolate to 84℉ (29℃), and now its ready to use for coating.

Coating:

Place the cream puffs on a wire rack. Drizzle the chocolate on top until the whole peak is covered with chocolate. Tap the wire rack on the counter to get the excess chocolate to run off. Place the cream puffs in the refrigerator for a few minutes until the chocolate has set. 

Melt the dark chocolate and pipe eyes on the ghosts.

The liquorice ghosts will keep 3 days a 50-54℉ (10-12℃).

Enjoy!

Champagnebrus - Lime/Caramel Popsicle

Champagnebrus - Lime/Caramel Popsicle

Champagnebrus is a one of the most famous popsicles in Denmark. You can buy it in almost every store.

I had to try to make this popsicle and I believe I got pretty close.

Makes 6 popsicles.

Ingredients

• 3 limes,the juice from
• 15 key limes (or another 3 limes), the juice from
• 200 ml water
• 125 g sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons caramel syrup (Starbucks)
• 1 small drop green food color
• dark chocolate for topping

Equipment

• Popsicle mold, I used a Zoku
• Ice cream maker optional, I used a DeLonghi

Directions

Juice the limes and mix the juice with sugar, syrup, water and food color. Pour into the ice cream maker and run the machine until the mixture is partly frozen. Pour the mixture into the mold, and insert the sticks in the mold. You can cool the mixture in the refrigerator instead of using an ice cream maker. When completely frozen, dip the tip in melted chocolate.

Enjoy.