Handbag brownie cake

I made this cake for my MIL (R) for Mothers day. It was my first attempt at decorating a cake with marshmallow fondant. 

It's supposed to be a Mimco bag, as R, in her own words, is turning into a bit of a "Mimco girl".

The cake is based on my brownie bite recipe. Basically it is brownie and chocolate ganache moulded into the shape of the bag. 

Marshmallow fondant

Marshmallow fondant can be used to decorate cakes, cupcakes and cookies. It can be rolled out to cover cakes, and made into decorations such as bows and flowers. 

If you require decorations to dry hard, you will need to leave them to dry over night. To aid in this, you can add tylo powder or something similar.

You may like the taste of marshmallow fondant more than regular fondant. A point to note is that it doesn't hold up as well as regular fondant when placed in the fridge if you decorate a cake then leave it for a few days.

It takes pretty good - Mr X says they taste like a big boss (whatever that is). It basically tastes like a marshmallow, but even sweeter.

Ingredients
4 cups marshmallows
4 cups icing sugar, sifted + extra
2 tbsp water
1 tbs vanilla extract

Method

Add the marshmallows and the water to a large microwave-safe jug or bowl. Note that the bowl needs to be larger than the marshmallows - they will expand in the microwave and you don't want to end up with a huge sticky mess caused by overflowing!

Microwave on high for 1 minute, or until the marshmallows have expanded and melted a little.

Using a spatula, stir the marshmallows until smooth. At this point you may notice that the marshmallows are not all melted - if so, return to microwave for 30 seconds, or until the marshmallow mixture is completely smooth and lump free.

Add vanilla extract and mix. If you want, you can add colour - I have successfully made dark pink, purple and blue from pink marshmallows. Of course, if you are using all white marshmallows, you can make any colour you like! Note though that if you add colour at this stage, all the fondant will be the same colour! If you want to make multiple colours, wait to add it until later!

Add the icing sugar to the marshmallows all in one go. Then start to mix with a spatula. Continue to stir until the icing sugar begins to incorporate and it starts to get hard to stir.

At this point, tip the marshmallow mixture onto a clean surface dusted with icing sugar. Then remove any jewellery from your hands and grease them well (use cooking spray for ease - or alternatively something like copra). Make sure you grease them really well - trust me!! Then get kneading, as you would with bread dough, adding icing sugar until it forms a ball.

Stop adding icing sugar once it is smooth and no longer sticky. If you add too much sugar you will find it hard to work with as it becomes stiff. 

From here, the possibilities are endless!

Original recipe from about.com, found here

Brownie bites

These would be my most requested dessert from people. My Mum goes crazy over them. They are very rich, fudgey and chocolatey.

As they are rich, a little goes a long way. Each bite should be approx 1 table spoon.


Note that this recipe will make A LOT of brownie bites. This is not a bad thing as they are really popular, however the other option is to save half the recipe to eat as regular brownies and use the remaining mixture for brownie bites. Both the brownie and brownie bites do freeze really well though.


To cover the brownie bites, the amount of chocolate needed will depend on various factors including how thickly you coat the bites and whether you are making the whole quantity of bites at once. If you are freezing some of the bites to use for another occasion, I freeze them uncoated.

Ingredients:
Brownies 
Chocolate ganache (1/2 recipe)


Chocolate, melted - the type you use is optional. I used a combination of milk and dark.
1 tbs oil for every cup of chocolate (optional - to make it smoother)


Decoration
Mini easter eggs - or anything you like, the possibilities are endless.

Method:

Make brownies according to the recipe and allow to cool before crumbling into a bowl and mixing in the ganache. Use your hands - it is much easier that using a spoon! Alternatively place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.


You want to achieve a texture similar to the centre of a truffle. Put mixture in fridge to cool for 15 minutes.

Roll into small balls (e.g. about a tablespoon size). At this stage, because I was making nests, I pushed my thumb into the centre of them to make a well. 

Pop them in the freezer for 30 minutes or so...this makes them easier to handle for the following steps.

Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Dip balls into chocolate. This is the hardest part. After doing a few you will get into a rhythm though. I found it easiest to use a couple of spoons. Be sure to shake of the excess melted chocolate otherwise you will really just end up with messy brownie bites with chocolate drips.
Add your decorations. Leave to set, either at room temperature or in the fridge. 


Notes:
Add your decorations fast as they will rely on the melted chocolate to adhere to the brownie bite. 
You can make them into different shapes

For decoration, you are only limited by your imagination. See here for a Christmas version.