Easter was just a few days ago, a fresh start of the year and preferably the beginning of warmer weather. A little easter chick is just the thing and these have the taste of lemon, white chocolate and marzipan.
EASTER CHICKS
20 PIECES.
MARZIPAN BISCUITS:
125 G 60% ALMOND MARZIPAN
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Roll out the marzipan on the kitchen table, dusted with a bit of icing sugar, to keep the marzipan from sticking. Roll it to a thickness of about 2-3 mm.
Cut out the biscuits with a round cutter (diameter of 5 cm.)
Place the pieces on a bakingtray with baking paper and bake them on the middle rack in the oven 3-5 min, until the edges are golden brown.
Allow the biscuits to cool completely.
MARSHMALLOW:
115 G SUGAR
60 G GLYCOSE SYRUP
60 G LEMON JUICE
ZEST OF ½ LEMON
75 G PASTEURISED EGG WHITES
1 TBSP. SUGAR
Add sugar, glycose syrup and lemon juice to a thick bottomed pot, keep a sugar/digital thermometer by the side.
Stir the ingredients together until the sugar has melted. The temperature now has to reach exactly 117 degrees celsius.
Meanwhile, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks, then add 1 tbsp. sugar and continue whipping until the meringue is shiny.
When the syrup is ready, take the pan off the heat and add the lemon zest, then pour it into the egg whites in a thin stream, while continuosly whipping on a middle speed.
Then turn the speed up to maximum and whip for another 8-10 min.
Put the marshmallow mixture in a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe the mixture onto the cooled biscuits.
Place the floedeboller in the fridge 1-2 hours, I usually give them until the day after. The fact that they are cold and firm makes it easier to cover the cakes with chocolate, without the marshmallow collapsing. At the same time the chocolate will set faster, when the mixture is cold.
CHOCOLATE SHELLS:
300G FINELY CHOPPED WHITE CHOCOLATE
YELLOW COLOURING GEL
Melt 2/3 of the chopped chocolate in a bowl over a simmering, not boiling, pan of water, the bowl must not touch the water.
When melted, remove the bowl and add the rest of the chocolate and stir it together until the chocolate is smooth and shiny.
Add the yellow colour a little bit at a time, until you have the colour you want for your chicks
The cakes can now either be dipped into the chocolate. Or, as I do, placed on a chocolate fork and covered from the top with chocolate, where after the excess can be shaken off, carefully by lightly knock the fork against the side og the bowl.
Place the floedeboller in the fridge for the chocolate to set.
DECORATION:
20 G WHITE CHOCOLATE
BLACK FOOD COLOURING PEN OR 10 G DARK CHOCOLATE
RED COLOURING GEL
Melt the white chocolate and colour it reddish-orange.
Paint a beak and a comb onto each chick with a small brush.
Draw eyes with the pen or the dark chocolate.
Keep the chicks in the fridge or they’ll tweet too much.