"Négercsók" literally "N... Kiss" was a popular sweet from the late 60' which consisted of a marshmallow fluff on biscuit base and a dark chocolate coat. Originally came with different flavors such as raspberry, lemon and coconut. The German "Choco Küss" or "Tunnock Tea Cake" from Scotland are very similar to the extinct Hungarian one. Although this dessert is not on any factories production line anymore, weirdly enough I found evidence that it was still available with the same name in 2008!!! This is such a good sweet, it would really deserve a rebirth definitely with a new name.
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| add from the 60' |
Watching this video I have to admit that without the precision machinery, I have done a good job.
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| my marshmallow cookies |
If I remember well, the original Marshmallow cookie had a very thin neither sweet not salty waffle base, that did its job only by holding the rest of the components. This already was giving me a trouble because it seemed impossible to buy anything like that. Even though I know that it is possible to make waffle at home, I didn't want to go as far. I found it really complicated without a waffle-maker. The time was running and then I came across with the drop biscuit recipe in the Joy of Cooking. This recipe makes a very quick batter that you can drop from a teaspoon onto a baking tray. The trick is to to cut the cookies with a cookie cutter (while they are warm) to get even circles.
Recipe for the base;
preheat oven 375F
Cream until light: 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar. Beat in 1 egg, 1 ts vanilla, 1/4 ts grated lemon rind. Add 3/4 cup sifted flour. Drop the cookies from a ts well apart on a greased tray. bake about 7 min until the rim is brown.
When that is done start making the marshmallow fluff. There are loads of good marshmallow recipes out there what you can choose from. Here is one with a very good description. In principles these are two kinds, one with egg whites and one with no egg whites. Strangely enough they do result in the same tasty marshmallows. This time I have used a recipe with egg whites in it, but I had to tweak it in order to achieve the right consistency. This Marshmallow cookie has to be softer then the ones you buy in a packet, you don't want to bounce back when you take a bite. Plus the marshmallow has to stick to the base just by itself. All this I have managed to achieve by heating the sugar syrup to a bit lower temperature then it is advised in a normal recipe, 250°F.
Sugar has different stages of melting and hardening. To be able to tell which stage are you at when you are boiling sugar you can use sugar thermometer or do the good old trick with iced water. Drop a bit of a sugar into a cup of ice-cold water, and see whether it s soft or hard ball depending on your needs.
Sugar has different stages of melting and hardening. To be able to tell which stage are you at when you are boiling sugar you can use sugar thermometer or do the good old trick with iced water. Drop a bit of a sugar into a cup of ice-cold water, and see whether it s soft or hard ball depending on your needs.
Thread 110 - 114°C (230 - 238°F)
The sugar mixture will form a fine thread if pressed together then pulled apart.
The sugar mixture will form a fine thread if pressed together then pulled apart.
Soft Ball 114 - 118°C (238 - 245°F)
The sugar mixture will form a soft ball which can be squashed flat.
The sugar mixture will form a soft ball which can be squashed flat.
Hard Ball 118 - 138°C (245 - 280°F)
The sugar mixture will form a ball which will hold its shape when pressed.
Small Crack 138 - 152°C (280 - 305°F)
The sugar mixture will separate into threads that will snap cleanly.
The sugar mixture will separate into threads that will snap cleanly.
Hard Crack 152 - 163°C (305 - 325°F)
The sugar mixture will separate into threads which are brittle and hard.
The sugar mixture will separate into threads which are brittle and hard.
Caramel 174°C (345°F)
The sugar mixture becomes golden in colour.
The sugar mixture becomes golden in colour.
Here we go with my recipe for the marshmallow fluff.
Soak 1 Tbs of powered gelatin in small amount of water (2 Tbs) At this stage you can add your flavoring and coloring. I put red color and raspberry essence. Put 60ml water to boil with 160g sugar and 2Tbs of honey/golden syrup/corn syrup until it gets to 240°F, then take it off the heat. Pour the sugar mix over the gelatin. In another bowl start beating the 2 egg whites until semi soft. Then add the two mixes together and beat it until firm. It has to cool down a bit by the time you are finished with whisking. I portioned the mix into pastry bags and waited more to firm up a bit then pressed a walnut size amount onto each biscuit. Refrigerate, and be careful, they stick! Next day melted some dark chocolate and dipped them into nice chocolate bath, try to cover the biscuit as well! This recipe only makes a couple (15), worth doubling up as they don't last long in your fridge.
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| naked marshmallows |