Witch Hat S’mores

I really love holidays, and I love cute things.  I somehow was possessed to make this ridiculously labor-intensive Halloween treat–homemade s’mores shaped like witches hats. This endeavor was a 2-day, 3-step process. Last night, I made dough for speculoos cookies (the brim of the hat).  The dough had to rest, so tonight, I rolled it out, cut it, and baked it.

I then made homemade marshmallows which I piped onto the cookies in the shape of a hat.  I enjoy making marshmallows because I like discovering how mysterious foods such as marshmallows are made.  You basically make a meringue and add gelatin.  I have made meringue one-thousand and one times since it is the base for macarons.  But if you’ve never made it before, you cook sugar, water, and corn syrup to 138 C, then add that to freshly whipped egg whites that have stiff peaks.

Piping homemade marshmallows requires technique, which requires practice! I certainly didn’t get the hang of it until the very end. Plus, my cookies were already very small, which made it that much harder to pipe marshmallows with some height!

I then melted dark chocolate and poured it over the hats.

Super cute. Super fun. Super time consuming.

 

Witches Hat S’mores, Recipe Adapted from Bouchon Bakery

1/2 recipe for Speculoos Cookies

Mixture for Vanilla Marshmallows (see below)

Dark Chocolate, melted- 400g

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a sheet with parchment paper. Roll out speculoos dough as directed. Cut the dough into rounds, arrange on prepared sheet pan as directed. Bake as directed. Let cool.

1. Transfer marshmallow mixture to a piping bag with a round tip.  Hold the bag vertically over the cookie and pipe the marshmallow so that it covers the cookie, leaving enough space on the cookie for the brim of the hat.  Spoon some melted chocolate over each hat to coat the marshmallow and cookie evenly. Let stand at room temperature until the chocolate sets.

Vanilla Marshmallows

Ingredients: Silver leaf or powder gelatin (4 sheets of silver leaf or 9.6 g powder); Egg whites- 87g (1/4c + 2 tablespoons); Vanilla extract- 1/2 teaspoon; Granulated Sugar- 225g (1c + 2 tablespoons); Water- 112g (1/2c); Light Corn Syrup- 50g (2 1/2 tablespoon)

1. If using silver gelatin sheets, soak sheets in ice cold water in a bowl for 5 minutes. Remove gelatin sheets from water and ring out excess water. Place in a small bowl over a pot of barely simmering water and melt the gelatin.  Reduce the heat to keep the gelatin warm.

2. Meanwhile, place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add vanilla.

3. Combine granulated sugar, water, and corn syrup into a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. When syrup reaches 121 C, start whisking the egg whites, and let sugar continue to cook. When sugar reaches 138 C, remove from heat. Egg whites should be forming stiff peaks by now. With the mixer on medium speed, slowly add sugar mixture to egg whites, continuing to whisk (be very careful not to splash the hot sugar).  Pour in gelatin and increase speed to medium-high, and mix for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick, glossy, and warm.  Transfer mixture to a piping bag.