by Ellen Easton

Marshmallows can be a treat to dress up your hot chocolate or a festive confection to give as a gift or serve during the holidays.

Using a few store bought items and your imagination will enable you to create your own at home.

List:  Store bought marshmallows, food coloring, colored sprinkles, toppings, chocolate of your choice- I used Lindt Intense Orange with Almonds and Ghirardelli White Chocolate in these photos, toothpicks, Styrofoam, wire rack, paint or craft brush, candy cups, decorative sugar toppings, ground nuts.

All items should easily be found in craft, baking and food stores or on line.

Place the marshmallows on a wire rack.  Insert a toothpick into the

center of the marshmallow.  Hold the toothpick when painting the marshmallow to keep fingerprints at bay.  Allow marshmallows to dry.

Place your chocolate in a double boiler over a low heat until melted and coats the back of a spoon.

Dip the end of the marshmallow into the melted chocolate. While the chocolate is still wet, dip the chocolate end into the sprinkles, groundnuts or toppings.  Place the marshmallow toothpick into the Styrofoam to allow the chocolate to harden.  You can also set into the refrigerator.   If making a truffle with a marshmallow in the center, add ¼ cup of heavy cream per pound of chocolate to make a ganache texture, allow the chocolate to cool down.  Place a large or mini marshmallow into the center of a scoop of the ganache chocolate and roll into a ball to cover all sides. Then roll in sprinkles, groundnuts, shredded coconut or other topping.  Place on a wire rack to harden in the refrigerator.

Once hardened, remove and place into candy cups.

Gold Marshmallows- Chocolate Dipped and Plain with Sugar Decor

Gold Marshmallows- Pistachio White Chocolate Truffles enrobed and topped.

Marshmallow Ice Cream Sandwich and Cake Treats

This ice cream treat is an assembly project.  Using the flavor and ingredients of your choice prepare the cookie, mold the ice cream and put together.

List: Marshmallow Fluff, Ice Cream, Sugar Cookies or cookies of your choice. Optional decorations: melting chocolate, colored sanding sugar sprinkles, wafer paper décor.

For the photos in this article I used store bought sugar cookies dipped in chocolate. Dip the marshmallow fluff onto the back of a small spoon, gently dabbing the fluff onto the top of each cookie to make a pattern.  Set aside.  Next, using a knife or a flat spatula to coat the inside of each cookie with fluff.  Set aside.

Using either a small spring form pan or silicon mold place the ice cream preferably to fit the size of the cookie chosen.  Place into your freezer to harden.  Once frozen hard, remove and if needed, trim the ice cream to fit the cookie, place onto the bottom of one cookie and top with another decoration on top.

Again, if you do not wish to bake a cake, buy one.  Using a cookie cutter for shapes or a knife to cut squares create the base.  Next apply marshmallow fluff to the top and sides. If making two layers, repeat.   Decorate with toppings of your choice.  Place in the refrigerator to set, approximately 30 minutes.  Whether a large or small cake these treats are a fun project for the family and will be enjoyed by all at home or to give as gifts.   

Go a-head; leave a plate of cookies and cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows out for Santa!

May all of your holidays be merry and bright with a healthy and safe New Year 2021! Ellen

Text and photos are copyright of Ellen Easton. All rights reserved.

Where to buy the decorative items

Gingerbread Paper Place Mat by Hester and Cook:

Snowflake Edible Wafer Papers:
Sanding Sugars
Festive Jumbo Decorated Marshmallows: William Sonoma

Ellen Easton, author of Afternoon Tea~Tips, Terms and Traditions(RED WAGON PRESS), an afternoon tea authority, lifestyle and etiquette industry leader, keynote speaker and product spokesperson, is a hospitality, design, and retail consultant whose clients have included the Waldorf=Astoria, the Plaza and Bergdorf Goodman. Easton’s family traces their tea roots to the early 1800s, when ancestors first introduced tea plants from India and China to the Colony of Ceylon, thus building one of the largest and best cultivated teas estates on the island.