Now I am not sure how to describe these Custard Cream Bars, they were not what I expected, but you know me, I just love scouring the internet for new recipes, I love something a little different, but I must admit that the downside of finding recipes on Pinterest is that most of them are done in cups and I hate using cups! I am a baker, its a very precise science, I like everything measured out accurately and neatly, cups for me are to hit and miss, so imagine how happy I was when I found this recipe and it was in grams.
I think I thought this was going to be a little like Rocky Road, but that was so wrong, to me it is like a very sweet, soft and chewy nougat its delicious and would be perfect for a children’s party or a school fete, they would sell like hot cakes ! Well in this case, fridge cakes ! Sorry, trying out a little humour.
The recipe is very lovely and cute, it is written in away that you can picture a Mother and her little ones gathered at the kitchen table baking these together, trust me I am not teasing here, its more the case that this recipe is a nightmare to make. Its nothing like a few rice crispies covered in a little melted chocolate, no, you mark my words, its a sticky, gooey mess that ends up just about every where, including my hair and is so hard to stir you need arms like a bodybuilder. Definitely not for little ones ! Hence why I have rewrote it and removed anything remotely cute.
Would I make this again, Ummmm, not sure, if I did I would make a few changes. Firstly I would melt the marshmallows over a low heat in a saucepan or over a bain-marie (a pan of hot water in which a cooking container is placed for slow cooking) , this would keep everything moving and you could add the biscuits to the marshmallows and stir over a very gentle heat.
Secondly I would make this a little more grown up and more like nougat with pistachios, cherries, almonds, that sort of thing, no white chocolate or sprinkles, I would cut it into small squares and serves as petite fours (a very small fancy cake, biscuit, or sweet, typically made with marzipan and served after a meal).
Please excuse the explanations, its not me being patronising but not all my readers are die hard bake fans, I have always wanted for this to appeal to anyone, from newbies to the, don’t try and teach Nonna how to suck eggs brigade, so sometimes it is nice to explain what funny words like bain-marie mean as I never want anyone put off from trying a recipe just because they think a procedure is to difficult when really all it is, is a bowl put over a saucepan of simmering water.
Well I had better go, another busy weekend awaits, I have just dropped Luca off at a friends for the night and tomorrow we are getting our first quote for our new kitchen, hopefully sometime in the future I will be proud enough to show you photos of the new kitchen in our new home, but for now a weekend of gardening, floor laying and front door painting lays ahead, oh how I miss quiet weekends !
Buon appetito
400g custard cream biscuits, or any biscuit of your choice
400g large marshmallows
50g unsalted butter
50g glacé cherries, sliced into quarters (optional), or chocolate chips
25-30g white chocolate
Sprinkles
Line an 8 inch x 8 inch tin with cling film or foil. Make sure the edges of the cling film or foil hang over the sides of the tin. This will make it easy to remove the custard cream bars from the tin.
Crush the custard cream biscuits into tiny crumbs, by hand in a freezer or sandwich bag, place the biscuits inside, seal the bag (make sure there is no air trapped inside!) and use a rolling pin to bash the biscuits into very fine crumbs. Or the easy way in a food processor.
Tip the marshmallows into a large microwaveable mixing bowl. Weigh the butter, then slice into small pieces and add to the marshmallows.
Place the mixing bowl into the microwave and heat on high for 1 minute, or until the marshmallows have puffed up. Take the bowl from the microwave and stir. You may find that the marshmallows that have held their shape will melt into the rest of the sticky mixture as you stir. My marshmallows had now melted enough, so I popped it all back into the microwave for 30 seconds longer.
Quickly pour the custard cream biscuit crumbs into the melted marshmallow and butter mixture and stir.
If you wish to add the chopped glacé cherries, now is the time to do so. Add half of the chopped cherries now and reserve the remainder for later.
Give the mixture another good stir. It will be a rather stiff mixture by now!
Spoon the sticky marshmallow and biscuit mixture into the lined tin. You should be able to use your knuckles to press the mixture into the tin. If you get into a sticky mess, rub a little oil onto your knuckles.
Press the remaining chopped glacé cherries into the surface of the biscuit bars.
Leave the bars to set in the tin for an hour or so. You can speed up the process by placing the bars in the fridge to firm up.
Once the bars have set, take hold of the edges of the cling film or foil to extract your pretty custard cream bars from the tin.
To decorate, you can melt a little white chocolate in a small microwaveable bowl and use a teaspoon to drizzle it across the surface of the biscuit bars. Add sprinkles and glitter to the chocolate before it sets.
Make sure the bars are at room temperature before slicing. Enjoy!
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