If you think bought chocolate royals and wagon wheels are good just wait til you taste ones you’ve made yourself. Divine. Just divine. The only drawback is that they are quite tem consuming to make. For this reason I usually make a double batch and freeze the leftover bases. That way, the next time I want to make some there’s one less step to do. You could probably use any jam for the filling but I would highly recommended making sure you get some doughnut jam, it really makes a difference.
When you beat the marshmallow make sure you beat it til it completely holds its shape. If you don’t beat it for long enough then when you pipe it it will start losing its shape. My rule of thumb is that if I think I’ve beaten it for long enough, I make sure I beat it for another couple of minutes just to make sure. Also don’t muck around too much once you have the marshmallow in the piping bag, as it will start to set. On one occasion I’d left it too long between filling the bag and doing the piping and the whole bag had firmed up and was unusable.
If I’ve got time on my hands I make two batches of marshmallow – one white for the wagon wheels and one pink for the chocolate royals, but I haven’t heard anyone complain if they get the wrong colour.
Biscuit base ingredients
1 cup / 200 grams brown sugar
1 egg
2 cups / 325 grams self raising flour
2 tablespoons sifted cocoa – or replace with flour if you want a lighter coloured biscuit
125 grams butter
3 tablespoons milk
Doughnut jam
Marshmallow ingredients
1 ½ cups sugar
6 teaspoons powdered gelatin
200 mls boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
pink food colouring
Chocolate melts
Vegetable oil or copha
Method
- Heat the oven to 180 degrees C and line a biscuit tray with baking paper.
- Place the butter and milk in a saucepan and heat until the butter is melted. Place all the other biscuit ingredients (except the jam) in a bowl, pour the melted butter over and mix with beaters until well combined. You should have a dough firm enough to roll out. If it’s a bit sticky then add a little more flour.
- Flour a work surface, roll out the dough and cut into rounds. Cook the rounds for 12-15 minutes or until just done – you don’t want to over cook them or they will be too crisp. Allow to cool.
- After the biscuits have cooled spread them out and add a small spoonful of jam to the centre of each. Be sure not to get any jam on the edge as that will stop the marshmallow from sticking. Also be aware the jam may spread a bit, so don’t put it on until just before the marshmallow is ready to go.
- Make the marshmallow. Place the sugar, gelatin and boiling water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring, and allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes. Keep a constant eye on it, the mix can boil over really quickly, and it’s a nightmare to clean off the stove.
- Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Using electric beaters (a stand mixer is best) whisk until very stiff and thick. This will take quite some time. You might think it’s ready, but chances are it will need longer. You want to keep beating until the marshmallow holds its shape completely when you lift the beaters out of the mix.
- Spoon the marshmallow into a piping bag that is fitted with a star nozzle. For wagon wheels pipe a ring of marshmallow around the jam and then place another biscuit on top, pressing down gently. For chocolate royals, starting form the outside edge pipe a rosette onto each biscuit. Allow the marshmallow to set for about half an hour.
- Melt whatever type of chocolate you like to use, and add a lug of vegetable oil or some copha. I’m sorry I don’t have quantities, I never measure when I melt chocolate. Carefully dip each biscuit into the chocolate, making sure the whole biscuit is covered. Place on baking paper until set.
