Grasshopper Marshmallows

These grasshopper marshmallows are perfect for St. Patrick’s day next week. St. Patricks’s day is all about the colour green to me and these chocolate and mint mallows are bursting with mint green colour.

Grasshopper Pie is something from America that has always intrigued me. It’s chocolate and crème de menthe flavour, but many grasshopper recipes I see online are just good old chocolate and mint. Check out this recipe at The More Than Occasional Baker for the pie.

After reading the fantastic book Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever, I thought I would take her deeply chocolate mallow recipe and whip up a batch of mint flavour too, combine them et voila - Grasshopper marshmallows! I love the name, but you can just call them chocolate and mint ones if you like.

My taste testers in the office loved them. Most folk said they were like Mint Aero in mallow form which sounds like a good compliment to me. The recipe I have converted from the original cup measurement, to a more UK pleasing grams. And remember, unless you have Popeye’s muscles, you will need a stand mixer for making mallows.

 Chocolate Mallow Ingredients:

 5 teaspoons gelatine powder

125 ml cold water

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon strong instant coffee powder (I used Carte Noir)

60ml hot water

60 ml corn syrup or golden syrup

225 grams granulated sugar

60ml corn syrup or golden syrup

60ml water

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mint Mallow Ingredients:

4 ½ teaspoons gelatine powder

125 ml water

170 grams granulated sugar

120 ml corn syrup or golden syrup

60 ml water

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon peppermint extract

Green food colour paste (amount will vary)

Adapated from Shauna Sever

Method:

Grease a 9”x13” baking pan and set aside.

In a small microwaveable bowl add the 5 teaspoons of gelatine with the 125 ml cold water. Let this soften for 5 minutes.

In the bowl of the mixer, add the cocoa powder, coffee powder, hot water and 60 ml syrup. Whisk this together.

In a large saucepan place the 225 grams of sugar, 60ml syrup, 60ml water and the ¼ teaspoon salt. Bring this to the boil on high heat and clip on a sugar thermometer.  Continue boiling until it reaches 120C or 250F.

In the meantime, zap the gelatine mix in the microwave for 30 seconds then add to the chocolate syrup mix. Turn the mixer on low speed and keep it on.

When the sugar mix reaches 250C, pour it slowly into the mixer (still on low) then turn it to medium for 5 minutes. Then increase the speed to medium high for 5 minutes. Lastly turn the mixer on high for 3 minutes, adding the vanilla. The mix will have gone from liquid to fluffy soft mallow. 

Scrape this into one half of the prepared pan and begin to make the mint mallow.

Again, add the gelatine to the cold water and set aside.

In a large saucepan add the 170 grams of sugar, 60 ml of syrup, 60 ml of water and 1/8 teaspoon salt and bring to the boil. Clip on the sugar thermometer and boil until it reaches 120C or 250F.

In the meantime zap the gelatine mix in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the remaining 60ml of corn syrup and some green food colouring to the mixer bowl and add the gelatine mix. Turn it on low. Slowly pour in the sugar mix when it reaches 250C and then turn the mixer to medium for 5 minutes. After the 5, turn it to medium high for another 5, then lastly 3 minutes on high. During these last 3 minutes, add the peppermint extract and more green food colouring if it is too pale for you.

Transfer the mint mallow mix to the other half of then pan and then slowly mix the chocolate mallow through the mint. The chocolate mallow might have set a wee bit in the 15 minutes, so break this up a bit with a spoon.

Once marbled to your satisfaction coat with a 2:3 ratio mix of icing sugar and cornflour and let set for a minimum of 6 hours. Overnight is fine.

When ready, carefully prise from the pan and transfer to a cutting board dusted with more 2:3 icing sugar/cornflour mix. Cut shapes from the mallow slab, using a pizza cutter or cookie cutters – whatever you prefer. Remember to dust any sticky bits with more of the 2:3 mix.

These Grasshopper marshmallows are soft and silky, as good homemade mallows should be. And the chocolate and mint tastes all frothy!

As I said at the top, these are perfect for a St. Patricks day party – so I am entering them into Treat Petite, hosted by Kat at the Baking Explorer this month. The theme is Ireland so they are perfect.

And as for Alphabakes, the letter is U this month. A very tricky one, but I think the Unsweetened cocoa powder fits the bill. Alphabakes is shared between Caroline over at Caroline Makes  and hosted this month by Ros at The More Than Occasional Baker.