Hiiii! Just sneaking in over here with one more blood orange recipe while they are still in season. At least they are still selling them at my supermarket, so as far as I'm concerned, that counts. This was another one of those recipes that was set out to be a little more fancy than it is. Well, more fancy in presentation at least. On a mission to use up the last of the blood oranges in my fruit bowl, I set out to put a chocolate orange spin on this amazing cookie by Teresa of Now, Forager (check out her blog if you haven't already, it's full of amazing things I wish I was clever enough to make). I made bomb chocolate orange shortbread, but after an incident involving marshmallow in my eyelashes, I quickly decided that these were better off as sandwich cookies, rather than the beautiful tear drop shaped cookies I was aiming for.
But, do you know what? Sometimes you get marshmallow in your eyelashes for a reason, because these turned out epic. Adding an extra layer of the shortbread rounds off the cookie very nicely, and means that they are a little easier to eat and store. I am still determined to replicate the cookies I set out to, but for now, these are a very, very happy and delicious compromise. And you won't get marshmallow in your eyelashes.
I started off by making an orange chocolate shortbread. These little guys are super delicious on their own, but the get even more epic when they are sandwiching a blood orange marshmallow. For the marshmallow, I subbed the water in the recipe with blood orange juice, which resulted in a super pretty light pink mallow, with a delicate orange flavour. I then piped blobs of the marshmallow onto half the cookies, and sandwiched them up with a friend. I finished the whole thing off with a big messy drizzle of melted dark chocolate, which is a totally optional but super yum addition.
A few wee tips:
- My cookies are pretty small! Because I originally planned to have them as a marshmallow kiss, I made the shortbread cookies into 1 ½" circles. This resulted in super cute sandwich cookies, but if you wanted them to be a little bigger, that would work just as well. Just make sure you adjust the timing a smidge.
- You need a stand mixer to make the marshmallows. A Candy thermometer will also be your friend here too.
- Things go quickly once the marshmallow is ready, so make sure that you have everything ready to go - cookies paired up, piping bag fitted with the tip etc.
- If Blood oranges aren't in season / you can't get them where you are, then regular ones work just fine too! I've recently seen some beautiful cara cara oranges in my supermarket which i've been eyeing up!
- You may have a little marshmallow left over - just pipe it into a well greased tin and let it cure, then use it for hot chocolate etc.
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Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
Chocolate Orange Sandwich Cookies with Blood Orange Marshmallow
- Yield: Makes approx 24 sandwich cookies 1x
Description
Chocolate Orange Sandwich Cookies with Blood Orange Marshmallow
Ingredients
Chocolate Orange Shortbread
- 185g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 80g powdered sugar, sifted
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp finely grated orange zest
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 185g all-purpose flour, sifted
- 50g cocoa, sifted
Blood Orange Marshmallow
- 14g (2 packets) gelatine
- 80g blood orange juice, or regular orange juice
- 100g corn syrup
- 80g blood orange juice
- 270g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- Melted dark chocolate, to finish
Instructions
CHOCOLATE ORANGE SHORTBREAD
- Preheat the oven to 350˚f / 180˚c.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, powdered sugar, salt, orange zest, and vanilla bean paste until light and fluffy, 4-5 minutes. Add the sifted flour and cocoa powder, and mix just to combine.
- Dump the dough out onto a large piece of parchment, and place a second piece over the top. Roll the dough out between the two pieces of parchment, until is is approx ¼" (6mm) thick. Place the dough on a baking sheet, and place into the freezer for 15-20 minutes, or until very firm.
- Remove from the freezer. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the top piece of parchment, and cut 1 ½" (4cm) circles. Place them on the baking sheet, with a little space between. Re-roll scraps as needed, freezing briefly before cutting out.
- Bake the cookies, one tray at a time (or two if your oven is good), for 11-12 minutes, or until set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
BLOOD ORANGE MARSHMALLOW
- Fit a large piping bag with a medium to large piping tip (I used an ateco #808).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the first measure of orange juice and gelatine. Mix well with a fork, and leave to bloom while you prepare the sugar syrup.
- In a medium pot, combine the second measure of orange juice, corn syrup, sugar, and vanilla. Heat over medium to high heat, stirring occasionally. Heat until the syrup reaches 240˚f / 120˚c, then remove from the heat and leave to cool to 210˚f / 100˚c.
- Turn the mixer on to medium, and mix for a few seconds to help break up the bloomed gelatin. With the mixer running, VERY carefully pour the hot sugar syrup into the mixer. Turn the speed up to high, and whip for 10-15 minutes minutes, until the marshmallow has doubled in volume, has turned white, and holds a stiff peak when you stop the mixer and lift out the whisk. You want to see little strands starting to form around the whisk attachment as it whips - we want it nice and stiff for when you pipe it. Carefully transfer to the piping bag. Use immediately.
ASSEMBLY
- Pair up the shortbread cookies, and arrange upside down on a cooling rack or baking sheet. Pipe a blob of marshmallow onto one of each of the pairs, and top with the second cookie (with the top side facing up). Repeat for the remaining cookies. Leave for an hour or so to allow the marshmallow to harden.
- Drizzle with melted chocolate.
Notes
Shortbread recipe adapted from Now, Forager