Baked Sunday Mornings: Marshmallow Chocolate Cups

I have never had a real Mallo Cup, but I am a big fan of the various marshmallow-filled chocolate treats that are widely available around Easter (in the off season, I like getting my fix from See's scotchmallow chocolates, which consist of a layer of honey marshmallow on top of layer of caramel, covered in dark chocolate). So I was thrilled to see Marshmallow Chocolate Cups on this week's schedule for Baked Sunday Mornings. These cups are pure chocolate shells filled with homemade marshmallow.

The chocolate shell is two parts dark chocolate to one part milk chocolate. I used 500 grams of 72% chocolate and 250 grams of 33% milk chocolate -- so I think that if I had simply used 750 grams of 60% chocolate, I would have ended up with exactly the same result. You melt the chocolates together in a double boiler, and then use a brush to coat the insides of candy cups with the chocolate. I used foil candy cups that were 1.25 inches in diameter (across the bottom), and I used a small synthetic paintbrush to paint the chocolate up the sides of the cups. (I keep a set of inexpensive children's paintbrushes in the kitchen to use for applying luster dust and other tasks like this.) You refrigerate the unfilled cups to set the chocolate.

Meanwhile, you make the marshmallow from gelatin, sugar, salt, and water. The marshmallow filling is quite fluid, and it was easy to fill the chocolate cups using a pastry bag. Then I reheated the chocolate and spread a layer over the marshmallow, using the paintbrush get an even coating. After a few minutes in the fridge, the cups are ready.

The marshmallow cups were addictively good. The marshmallow filling is just amazing -- dense and springy, or as I like to say, "boing-y." Straight out of the fridge, the chocolate shell yields a satisfying snap. However, there were two major obstacles to eating the the cups. First, I didn't temper the chocolate, and so the chocolate melted upon contact; people who ate these walked away with their fingers covered in chocolate. Second, the chocolate stuck to the foil candy cups, which were quite prone to tearing. After eating a few of these cups, I finally figured out that tearing off the wrappers against the grain of the pleats was the clean and easy way to go -- but trying to peel off the wrappers straight down, with the grain of the folds, resulted in nothing but a pile of frustratingly tiny shreds of foil wrapper.

I am already planning to make these again. I might even see if I can make my own scotchmallows at some point -- but these little cups are so satisfying on their own that I don't think they need any improvement.

Recipe: "Marshmallow Chocolate Cups," from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito; recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.

Comments

Bourbonnatrix said…
your mallow cups look great! i'm intrigued by the scothmallow chocolates... can't wait to see the results if you do get around to making them!
Robyn said…
i found my paper liners hard to get off as well, which was kind of annoying. i'm pretty excited to make s'mores out of these later today!
Katie said…
Your mallow cups look delicious! I made some using a plastic mold with egg shapes. Very time consuming but the product was quite tasty. I am excited to use the marshmallow filling recipe in future cupcake recipes. Looking forward to seeing how you make scothmallow chocolates.
Kris' Kitchen said…
See's Scotchmallows are one of my favorites! I love reading all the posts today and I'm getting great ideas for about December when it will cool off enough to consider making chocolates...this is all making my mouth water.
Candy said…
I had the same issue with the melting. I didn't even think to temper the chocolate. Your candies look delish!
Unknown said…
Mallo cups are my all time favorite cady. These just need coconut and they would be the perfect food.
mike509 said…
Well, they look absolutely perfect! Will make note of your findings - I cheated and used molds. :) What a wonderful Easter treat (on the hunt now for scotchmallow)!
Sheri said…
Totally gorgeous. Love the photo.
Elaine said…
I agree that these don't need any improvement and yours look perfect!
Chelly said…
Love the way your look! They look so delicious! Beautifully done.
Grace said…
I can't tell what size these candy cups are - they look bigger than the 1 inch cups from the original recipe. Do you recommend candy cups or molds like the others did?
@Grace -- these wrappers were one and a quarter inches diameter across the bottom. The problem with the tearing wrappers was a pain before I figured out the workaround, and I'm not sure if I had this problem because I used foil wrappers instead of glassine (like the paper they use for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups). Paper cups are probably easier on the front end -- but there may be some payoff (appearance, neatness) on the back end with molds. On the other hand, molded chocolate that isn't tempered is prone to looking dull and streaky. When I make these again, I'm planning to go with paper cups, but you could go either way.
Grace said…
Thanks! I think I've lost all courage to make these, at the prospect of making such tiny candies! I'll just be content looking at your pictures and imagining their taste!