Marshmallow and malted chocolate teacakes

One of the most important things I’ve learnt in the short time since I started this blog is that the more you practice something, the easier it becomes to cover up your mistakes…

I’m having major issues with tempering chocolate, and whilst I’m still hoping remedy this before the end of chocolate month, I did not get the hang of it in time to make these teacakes. The result was teacakes streaked with ‘bloom’ the whitish marks that show the chocolate has not been properly tempered before cooling. Luckily, I’m now well practised in rescuing baked goods from the brink of disaster and quickly piped over some melted white chocolate, which in the end improved both the look and the taste.

Tempering issues aside, these teacakes are such fun to make! It’s partly the magic of seeing a slimy bowl of egg whites turn into billowy white marshmallow, and partly the relaxing half hour spent smoothing and shaping the domes, but I also find a huge sense of satisfaction in making something without having to buy the expensive moulds which aren’t much use for anything else!



I’ve added a malted chocolate centre to the original teacake recipe, inspired by Sweetapolita’s campfire cakes. It makes them even more chocolatey, and therefore perfectly suited to being part of a chocolate afternoon tea.

Things I have learnt from making marshmallow teacakes:

Don’t roll out the chocolate shortbread dough as thin as I did, 1cm or just under gives a good biscuit/marshmallow ratio.

Coating the shortbread in a layer of chocolate is optional, but I think it will help them keep longer as the moisture from the marshmallow might make them go soggy otherwise.

I’m beginning to think that life is too short for tempering chocolate, and would recommend simply melting it and then covering up any rough looking bits with the decoration of your choice.



Marshmallow and malted chocolate teacakes: makes 20 teacakes
(adapted from this BBC Food recipe)

Chocolate shortbread:
175g butter, softened
85g golden caster sugar
200g plain flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
100g chocolate, chopped

• Beat the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon
• Add the flour and cocoa and mix by hand to form a dough then shape into a ball and wrap in cling film
• Chill for 1 hour or for several days (or it can be frozen for up to 1 month)
• Preheat the oven to 180C and line two baking trays with parchment
• Roll the dough out to 1cm thick and cut rounds using a 5.5cm circular cutter
• Place on the lined baking trays and bake for 10-12 minutes
• Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before using the same cutter to re-cut the cookies (as they will have spread out a bit whilst baking)
• Melt the chocolate in the microwave and dip each biscuit in to fully coat then scrape the excess off on the side of the bowl
• Leave the chocolate coated biscuits to one side to set whilst you get on with the fillings

Malted chocolate ganache:
100g chocolate
50ml double cream
15g Ovaltine (preferably the chocolate flavoured kind)
150g Maltesers

• Melt the chocolate and double cream in the microwave until just a few lumps of chocolate remain
• Stir until fully melted and smooth then add the Ovaltine
• Crush the Maltesers with a rolling pin and stir into the chocolate mixture
• Place in the fridge until it is set enough to scoop (10-15 minutes)

Marshmallow:
3 egg whites
150g caster sugar
2 tablespoons golden syrup
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl set over a pan of simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water)
• Whisk with an electric whisk until it is smooth, silky and doubled in volume
• It should be very stiff, the consistency of whipped cream, so it will hold its shape when piped
• Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle (or just snip the end of the piping bag off) 

Assembling the teacakes:
600g dark chocolate
50g white chocolate

• Scoop a heaped teaspoon of the ganache onto the centre of each chocolate biscuits
• Pipe a generous swirl of marshmallow around the blobs of ganache
• Use a palette knife to shape the marshmallow into a smooth dome
• You will need to wash and dry the palette knife between shaping each teacake if you want really smooth surface, or simply scrape the excess onto the side of a bowl if this sounds like too much trouble
• Place the teacakes onto a wire rack with a sheet of greaseproof paper underneath (this is to catch the excess chocolate which you can then put to another use 
• Melt the dark chocolate and temper it (optional), before pouring it over the teacakes to fully coat
• Melt the white chocolate in the microwave and place in a piping bag
• Snip a very small hole in the end and pipe thin lines over all of the teacakes
• Leave to set fully before serving