Marshmallow Toasties

I was at my brother's house last weekend and spied (from across the room) a book called "The Cookie and Biscuit Bible." I just had to go and have a look through it. Within moments I'd asked if I could borrow it and sure enough it is now in my possession.

I had a look through and decided that practically everything looked delicious. With colour photographs of each recipe and easy, clear instructions too I found this to be an excellent quality recipe book. Not only are there recipes for biscuits and cookies there are also muffin, brownie, bar and cracker recipes too. It really covers all the bases!

I was looking through the pages and came across an interesting recipe where a fairly plain biscuit base is baked and then topped with strawberry jam and marshmallows. The marshmallows are then toasted under the grill until the melt and brown. Yum. I love toasted marshmallows. I was the one at camp that used to set theirs on fire to make sure they were really toasted and melty on the inside before extinguishing and eating. I had to make this recipe for its sheer novelty value.

It was quite simple. The mixture includes ground almonds which make the base have a delicious texture and a hint of nuttiness. I subbed the lemon zest for lime as it's all we had in but it gave a delightful citrus note that cut through the sweetness of the marshmallows. I should have used the required 9x9 pan but we don't have one. Using a 9x9 would mean that the base would be more biscuity and less cakey. I think this would be much nicer even though the cakey one was quite good. You need the texture contrast between crispy biscuit and soft chewy marshmallow.


Ingredients
130g butter
75g caster sugar
Zest of a lemon or lime
2tsp vanilla
75g ground almonds
1 egg
115g self raising flour
150g strawberry jam
200g marshmallows

Method
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the citrus zest, vanilla, almonds and egg and mix well.
Place the mixture in a lined 9x9 pan and bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then spread with strawberry jam.
Cut the marshmallows in half horizontally and place on top of the jam.
Brown the marshmallow top under a moderate grill for 2-3 minutes. Gently press the marshmallows down to form an even layer and then grill for another minute.
Allow to cool before slicing.