These splurges of goodness came around as a bit of an accident, as does most of my baking.
They have a very soft squidgy base after sitting with a biscuit/butterscotch topping, which reminded us so much of ‘smores’, but not actually toasted on any kind of fire. They are not the prettiest but what they lack in presentation, they make up for in taste.
Be warned, they are very sickly, so you won’t need much to keep you warm on a cool summers night.
Enjoy.
Serves 12-ish
For the Base:
- 125g plain flour
- 25g of good quality cocoa powder (I like green and blacks)
- 120g melted salted butter
- 40g caster sugar
For the Filling:
- big bag of mini marshmallows
- 360g caster sugar
- 100g golden syrup
- 70g salted butter
- 70g double cream
- vanilla extract
- 70g Lotus spread
- chocolate stars to decorate, or anything else you want to use to jazz it up a bit!
- 9×12 inch baking tray
- fork
- baking parchment
- big bowl and spoon to make the base
- saucepan and hob to make the filling
- oven for baking
Method
Set your oven to 180c/160c fan or gas mark 4.
Line your baking tray with baking parchment
Mix all the ingredients together for the base using a big bowl and wooden spoon, until your mixture forms a cookie dough. If it isn’t binding well enough, I tend to add a few drops of milk.
Press the dough into the tin, making sure there is a slight lip around the outside and prick all over with a fork like you would a shortbread.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. When it comes out the oven it should be cooked completely and be quite hard to the touch.
Pour your marshmallows into the tray whilst the biscuit is still warm, making sure they are scattered evenly throughout.
Next step is to make the filling. Mix the sugar, water and syrup in the saucepan before putting onto heat. Put it on a low heat, but this is a warning, keep an eye on it! It will come to a bubble hard and fast and you’ll need to just keep an eye that its turning a nice golden colour. Don’t be tempted to stir! A test to check if it’s right is to take a little out with a spoon and drop into a glass of cold water. If it remains as a ball, it’s set.
Take off the heat and stir in the butter. Pop it back on the heat for a couple of minutes.
Take off again and stir in the cream, vanilla extract and Lotus spread until its all melted together.
Pour straight away over the marshmallows and biscuits and allow to set at room temp.
Add your decoration and if you like, store in the fridge if you want it set fairly firm.
Make it Extra
Mixing up the flavours on this is easy once you have mastered the bake. You can make it a vanilla base by not adding the cocoa (but I do enjoy the contrast in colours) or use Nutella or peanut butter instead of the Lotus spread, or just use all of them.
To make vegan, use vegan marshmallows and swap out the cream and butter for alternatives.
