chocolate covered peppermint marshmallows

Every year about this time, I go on a candy-making binge. This year, I wanted something new, and was CONVINCED that the answer lay in marshmallows. I found a recipe for chocolate-covered peppermint marshmallows on the Washington Post. Halfway through the process, I had decided not to bother posting it to my blog. I was a bit disappointed. They were fun to make, but at that point I had just made the marshmallows (they were as of yet undipped) and I was a little underwhelmed.

Then I dipped them in the chocolate. Wow. Wowy wow wow.

The recipe is sort of long, (but they're not hard, it's just wordy) so I'm just going to give you a link and pray they never take the recipe down. I topped them, while the chocolate was still liquid, with some more crushed peppermints (I crushed them using a mortar and pestle, by the way). I don't know if it added to the flavor, but it looks pretty.

I simplified the cutting stage a little. Instead of sprinkling more powdered sugar on a work surface and then putting more on the top after flipping the mallows out of the pan, I just flipped the pan over with the parchment paper still on top (so, the paper kept the mallows from sticking to my kitchen). After cutting, I then tossed them with the sugar. Also, my lightly oiled pizza cutter worked great to cut them, I'm not sure if scissors would be easier.

Mom's Bells and Whistles Irish Soda Bread Part 1: Candied Orange Peels

Mom has been sleuthing for me the best candied orange peel to use in this recipe. Many recipes that she found assume that you'll be coating them in chocolate, which we felt wouldn't be the right one. I found two recipes in Joy of Cooking, and am trying the easier one (version 2), which is a quicker process (save the soaking overnight part) that makes a softer peel (I thought this would be better in a bread), but they don't keep as long (not a problem). My problem with Joy of Cooking is that she has a high opinion of her readers and their instincts so her recipes are often open to interpretation. This kind of overestimation has burned me in the past, so I'll try to add my own notes.

• Cut into strips grapefruit or orange peel (I used one orange).
• Soak for 24 hours in salt water to cover, using 1 T salt to 4 cups of water (I ended up only needing 1 cup of water to cover)
• Drain peel.
• Rinse and soak for 20 minutes in fresh water.
• Drain, cover with fresh water and boil for 20 minutes (I did this on med. high heat).
• Drain again.
• Measure sugar in equal parts with the peel (My peel, when smooshed into a measuring cup, was about 3/4 c, so I used that much sugar)
• Cook the peel (I used med. to med. low heat). Add a VERY little water, ONLY if necessary, until the peel has absorbed the sugar.
• Shake the pot as the syrup diminishes, so that the peel does not burn.
• Dry thoroughly and store tightly covered.

RESULTS: Well, this is a delight to cook. The peels were just beautiful in the pot, and they started off with that sharp orange smell, but then they smelled spicier, and there was a caramelly under-smell. They taste good, too. I have no idea what the ideal orange peel would be like for this bread recipe, but just looking at the oranges, they seem to have a lot of sugar caked on them, a little like rock salt but not nearly as hard. I wonder if I used too much sugar, or if I stirred too much in the beginning or shook too much toward the end. I'll likely make these again, I want to try dipping them in chocolate (which the first recipe in the book is designed for).