Choco-Mallow Candy

Not fudge, but almost. Not ganache, but almost. Candy! This is an amazing and very easy-to-make chocolate marshmallow candy that looks beautiful when cut into pieces and tastes really rich and chocolaty. Makes a great gift and stays fresh for several days. You must try this!!


Since I was giving these as Christmas gifts, I used the seasonal Jet-Puffed Marshmallows that come in red and green. The resulting candies turned out really festive and pretty! But make this year round and use plain white marshmallows. Because the truth is, there's nothing seasonal about chocolate and marshmallow. It's an every-day-of-the-year food combination!


Choco-Mallow Candy
Adapted from a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website

2 2/3 cups chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
13 marshmallows, halved around the circumference
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Prepare an 8x8-inch square baking pan by lining the bottom with parchment paper and then greasing the parchment and sides. You can also use a 9x9-inch round cake pan but then some of your candies will be bizarre shaped. This candy is never baked, so you can even use plastic wrap instead of parchment paper.

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate, cream, espresso powder (if using), corn syrup, and vanilla. You can do this on the stove in a saucepan instead of the microwave using low heat. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. The cream should be hot and the chocolate will be softened but not completely melted yet. Remove from the heat and continue stirring until the chocolate is completely melted.

Measure out 3/4 cup of the melted chocolate mixture and spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan.

Evenly distribute the marshmallow halves on top of the chocolate in the pan. Then scatter the walnuts evenly in the crevices between the marshmallows.

Pour the rest of the chocolate on top and use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread evenly so that all marshmallows and walnuts are covered. Be sure you get the chocolate to the edges of the pan.

Cover the pan and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, until the chocolate is set. Then use a knife to loosen the candy from the edges of the pan.

Bring the candy to room temperature before cutting into pieces.


Step-by-Step in Pictures
Melt the chocolate with the cream, espresso powder, corn syrup, and vanilla...

Stir until smooth...

Spread 3/4 cup of the chocolate in the bottom of the prepared pan...

Evenly distribute the marshmallows on top of the chocolate...

Scatter the walnuts in between the marshmallows...

Cover with the remaining chocolate...

Chill for an hour to set the chocolate...

Then bring to room temperature before cutting into pieces...

Enjoy!

Marshmallow Failure: You Can't Win 'Em All!

The finished product before being cut into squares, and retitled Ugly Marshmallows

This is my first ever attempt at making marshmallows. It didn't work out according to plan. It was supposed to be easy. They were supposed to be beautiful and impressive. I was supposed to be triumphant. But no. It was an ugly, sticky mess and now that I'm done pouting, I'm willing to share the photos with you.


I'd like to be able to say it was 4am when I made these and I was too tired to read the instructions carefully, but honestly, I have no idea where I went wrong and it wasn't 4am. Baking mishaps happen to everyone and this is my new personal favorite. The blob in the photo at the top makes me giggle to no end! I will say, though, that the final product does taste very much like a marshmallow. You just need to be blindfolded from the hideous sight while nibbling. Better luck next time!

Quick and Easy Rocky Road Fudge

This is really good fudge and there's nothing to it. I doubled the recipe and put it in a 9x13" pan so I wouldn't mind giving a lot of it away. That logic didn't end up working because honestly, it's so good I do mind giving it away! The recipe comes from chocolate genius Lora Brody's cookbook Chocolate American Style, which I just spent the past weekend studying in depth. I've marked about a dozen pages of things to try, and this fudge was first on the list.

It makes a great homemade gift because, first of all, who doesn't like fudge, and second of all, it has a long shelf life so you can make it days in advance of your gift-giving and the recipient doesn't have to eat it all at once. Go to Michaels craft store or other creative supply shop and buy some goodie boxes, cute ribbon, stickers, and perhaps paper cup liners, and make a fun project out of decorating the fudge gift boxes.


Quick and Easy Rocky Road Fudge
Recipe by Lora Brody in Chocolate American Style

Makes 1 1/4 pounds: 24 generous pieces

Unsalted butter for preparing the pan
1 2/3 cups (13 ounces) sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups (3 ounces) miniature marshmallows
3/4 cup (3 ounces) toasted nuts of your choice, coarsely chopped
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Generously butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line the pan with enough aluminum foil to overlap two opposite sides of the pan by 2 inches. Butter all the foil that touches the bottom and sides of the pan.

Place the sugar and evaporated milk in a 2-quart saucepan and set it over medium heat. Stir constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to simmer. Allow the mixture to come to a slow boil, and cook it for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir well around the bottom of the pan so that the mixture doesn't burn.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the unsweetened chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts. Add the marshmallows and nuts and stir until the fudge begins to cool and thicken. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour and scrape the mixture into the prepared pan. Press the mixture into the pan and allow it to cool until firm.

Unmold the fudge onto a cutting board. Peel off the foil and use a long, sharp knife dipped in hot water and dried to cut the fudge into portions.

The fudge can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks.


Step-by-Step in Pictures

Heat up the sugar and evaporated milk...

Stir constantly until sugar is dissolved and liquid is simmering...

Remove the pan from the heat and add the unsweetened chocolate...

When the chocolate has melted, add the marshmallows...

Let the marshmallows melt...

Add the toasted walnuts...

Continue stirring until the mixture thickens...

Add the chocolate chips...

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let cool until firm...

Yum. So chocolaty!

The Ultimate Passover Snack: Caramel Matzoh Crunch

I'm starting to wonder if all of the Passover-keeping people out there have tried this sweet snack at one point or another. It is SO enormously popular. The recipe has been floating around the Internet for years and wherever it goes, it gets rave reviews. It's hardly original for me to post it to Happy Go Marni, but on the other hand, I feel so left out! Plus, it's something my mom and I both make every year.

It's great to munch on in small doses when you need to kill that chocolate craving, and it makes a fun hospitality gift if you wrap it cutely in a tin and hand it to the person hosting your seder.


The best way to think of this is as a cross between chocolate bark, peanut brittle, and toffee. It taste everything like toffee, but it sort of resembles bark and brittle in appearance. It doesn't take long to make, its homemade caramel will knock your socks off, and it goes really far. One recipe will last you the entire week of Passover...that is, unless you're gift-giving or have zero willpower, which is actually entirely possible, even probable.

What else is fun about it is that you can change it up, sprinkling chopped nuts, marshmallows, or other Kosher-for-Passover candies on top, or using white and dark chocolate and marbleizing the two for a cool visual effect. The possibilities are endless. You could even add a flavoring to the caramel, like vanilla, or a liqueur. This Caramel Matzoh Crunch is honestly so good you will find yourself wanting matzoh at other times throughout the year, and let's face it, it's not normal to have a craving for matzoh in November.


Caramel Matzoh Crunch
Recipe by Marcy Goldman in A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking

4-6 unsalted matzohs
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter or unsalted Passover margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips or semi-sweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a large (or two smaller) cookie sheet completely with foil. Cover the bottom of the sheet with baking parchment — on top of the foil. This is very important since the mixture becomes sticky during baking.

Line the bottom of the cookie sheet evenly with the matzohs, cutting extra pieces, as required, to fit any spaces.

In a 3-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the butter or margarine and the brown sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil (about 2 to 4 minutes). Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and pour over the matzoh, covering completely.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 350°. Bake for 15 minutes, checking every few minutes to make sure the mixture is not burning (if it seems to be browning too quickly, remove the pan from the oven, lower the heat to 325°, and replace the pan).

Remove from the oven and sprinkle immediately with the chopped chocolate or chips. Let stand for 5 minutes, then spread the melted chocolate over the matzoh. Chill, still in the pan, in the freezer until set. Break into squares or odd shapes.

This makes a good gift.

Variation:
You can also use coarsely chopped white chocolate (or a combination of white and dark), and chopped or slivered toasted almonds (sprinkled on top as the chocolate sets). You can also omit the chocolate for a caramel-alone buttercrunch.


Step-by-Step in Pictures

Line the pan with foil and then parchment paper...

Cover the bottom of the pan with sheets of matzoh...
Bring the brown sugar and butter/margarine to a boil...
Here's your caramel layer...
Immediately (because it will harden quickly) pour the hot caramel layer over the matzoh sheets, then bake for about 15 minutes. When done, sprinkle chocolate chips over the hot caramel-covered matzoh...
Don't return the pan to the oven; just let the chocolate chips sit for 5 minutes to become spreadable, then spread evenly over the caramel layer...
I recommend putting the tray in the fridge for a few minutes to set the chocolate...
Then break up the matzoh into irregular snack-sized shapes...

Notice the double layer? Caramel, then chocolate? Why not try marshmallows or nuts next time?
Yum!

(White) Chocolate Haystacks

Word on the street is this recipe only has three ingredients. Three! Shhhh, don't tell anyone.

Haystacks fall into the candy category; they never go in the oven, and you can find 'em in gourmet chocolate shops alongside the truffles.

I've seen all kinds of variations, some with peanut butter, coconut, cashews, marshmallows, popcorn, and usually crispy chow mein noodles. The recipe below uses pretzels and peanuts. I love them because they combine salty with sweet.


(White) Chocolate Haystacks
Recipe from Season's Greetings by Marlene Sorosky

12 ounces white chocolate, chopped (but I ran out of white and used mostly milk chocolate)
1/2 cup salted Spanish peanuts with skins
1 1/2 cups thin pretzel sticks, broken into 1 1/2-inch pieces

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Melt the white chocolate in the top of a double boiler over simmering water or in a medium bowl in the microwave on 60 percent power, stirring until smooth and creamy. Add the nuts and pretzels, stirring until well coated. Spoon the mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet. Cool to room temperature or refrigerate. The candy may be refrigerated indefinitely. Makes about 32 haystacks.





You, too, can make this platter!
Now that you have the haystacks recipe, my blog has given you all the information you need to make this platter for your own party. Here's what you're looking at: Candy Bar Double-Nut Fudge, Fruit Squares, and Haystacks, alternating between milk chocolate and white-milk chocolate.

Antique Sweets

No, that's not a statement about the maturity of these candies, cuz let me tell you, chocolate doesn't age like wine. Antique Sweets is the name of a candy shop in Madison, Georgia. I was in Atlanta two weekends ago to see my brother graduate from Emory. We took a day trip to Madison, an historic, beautiful Civil War town a short drive from the ATL. And in a small town with a small downtown, it's impossible to miss the only candy shop. We stopped in...

The storefront

Reasons for entering

You might already be familiar with pralines, a classic candy of the South made with sugar, cream, and often-but-not-always butter. Antique Sweets makes great ones. But here's something they do that I have not seen anywhere else: chocolate-covered pralines. And what really puts this shop over the top is their invention of Bulldog Bites, similar to a turtle, with a caramel-nut layer and milk chocolate over the caramel, and perfectly named for the beloved bulldog all Georgian sports fans proudly don on their shirts, cars, houses, and even underwear.

The candy shop is run by a husband and wife team who seem to love what they do. We studied the cases before deciding to buy out the entire remainder of their chocolate-covered pralines and have them packaged up to fly back with us to California. It wasn't cheap, but we aren't often in The South. Throw in a couple of regular pralines and Bulldog Bites and we were a well-stocked tourist pantry.

L to R: Bulldog Bites, Pralines, Chocolate-Covered Pralines

If you're headed to Atlanta, carve out some time to drive to the Civil War towns of Madison and Social Circle. The homes are beautiful, the roads scenic, and there are chocolate-covered pralines, for goodness sake.

One of the many Civil War era homes just blocks from the candy shop

Where it's happening:
Antique Sweets
132 East Washington Street
Madison, Georgia 30650
(706) 342-0034