Dominique Ansel: Apple Marshmallow
Dominique Ansel is a James Beard Award winner (Outstanding Pastry Chef) and 2017’s World’s Best Pastry Chef. He is the creator of the famous Cronut and many other delicious creations. Any trip to Dominique Ansel Bakery is guaranteed to give you something delicious for your cheat day.
The Apple Marshmallow is a recipe found in Dominique Ansel’s book The Secret Recipes. It’s a recipe that can be used during any season and is sure to impress. Like most Ansel recipes, it does require some extra cooking tools such as an apple chocolate mold and airbrush. But if you want to make something this fun, you’re going to need the proper tools. For this recipe we bought the wrong mold. As you’ll see, it worked, but it would have been easier if we used half molds instead of whole. A lot easier.
In this recipe, you’ll also learn how to temper chocolate. It’s not hard — not even sure we did it 100% right — and easy to learn. Since we used whole apple molds instead of half, our apples were too thick and hard to get out without breaking. We managed to pull it together and make something that was fairly impressive for a bunch of cheaters trying to be Dominique Ansel. If you don’t own an airbrush, make sure you get a decent one or you’ll be spending a lot of time color your apples.
We had fun creating the Apple Marshmallow but we would suggest getting the right molds. The thick chocolate was too thick to really enjoy the creation. We also skipped the soft caramel because we forgot the ingredients. Overall we loved the recipe and received lots of compliments for our cheat-day creation.
Recipe
Ingredients
Milk Chocolate, finely chopped – 2 1/4 pounds (1 kilogram)
Soft caramel – 2 batches
Cinnamon Marshmallow
Gelatin Sheet (160 bloom) – 5 each
Egg whites (large) – 3 each (90 grams)
Granulated sugar – 1 1/4 cups (260 grams)
Light corn syrup – 3 tablespoons (52 grams)
Water – 1/3 cup (77 grams)
Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon (2.5 grams)
Decorating
Red cocoa butter – 1 1/2 cups (200 grams)
Marzipan – 2 tablespoons (30 grams)
Dark Chocolate, and tightly packed – 1 tablespoon (10 grams)
How to Make Soft Caramel
Heavy Cream – 3/4 cup (160 grams)
Light corn syrup – 1/3 cup (100 grams)
Dark brown sugar – 2 tablespoons (24 grams)
Granulated sugar – 1/4 cup (51 grams)
Fleur de sel – 1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) – Sea salt flakes make a good substitute
1. Combine the cream, corn syrup, and brown sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and set aside, keeping it warm.
2. Place an empty medium pot over high heat. When the pot is hot, sprinkle a thin, even layer of granulated sugar into the pot. As the sugar melts and caramelizes, slowly whisk in the rest of the sugar, one small handful at a time, until all the sugar has been added. This method is called “dry caramel.”
3. When all of the sugar has been caramelized and turned deep amber, slowly stream in one-third of the hot cream, whisking constantly. Be careful! The cream might cause the caramel to splatter. When incorporated, whisk in the next third, and then the last. A hand blender works great, too. When all of the cream has been added, turn down the heat to low and continue to whisk the caramel until it reaches 221 degrees F (105 degrees C, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in fleur de sel, pour into a medium heatproof bowl, and let cool completely.
When the caramel has cooled, stir well to re-emulsify any fat that may have separated. Fill a piping bag with the caramel and refrigerate until needed.
Make the Chocolate Shells
Step 1: Melt and temper the milk chocolate
How to Temper your Chocolate
Tabletop Technique for Tempering
Start with a marble or granite surface, which is clean and dry and doesn’t absorb the heat.
- Melt the chocolate to the proper temperature.
- Dark chocolate: 118F (48C)
- Milk chocolate 113F (45C)
- White chocolate 109F (43C)
- Pour 80 percent of the melted chocolate onto the work space. Using two palette knives, slowly move the chocolate around to agitate it. Scrape the knives against each other to clean them as you work.
- Watch as the chocolate starts to thicken and develop a gleam. The temperature should be about 84F (29C), and the chocolate should feel slightly cool to the touch, as it’s just below body temperature.
- Return the agitated chocolate to the bowl with the remaining chocolate, using the palette knives. The agitated chocolate will reheat slightly as the whole amount comes to proper temperature.
- Dark chocolate 88F (31C)
- Milk chocolate 86F (30C)
- White chocolate 86F (30C)
In your first few times tempering, always make sure to test by dipping an offset spatula or piece of parchment paper into the chocolate to see if it sets shiny. If not, try again with the same chocolate. Once tempered, chocolate must be used immediately. If it solidifies, re-temper.
Seeding Technique for Tempering
- Melt two-thirds of the chocolate that you want to temper.
- Finely chop the remaining one-third. Slowly mix it into the melted chocolate with a rubber spatula (this is also referred to as “agitating the chocolate.”) As you add the chopped chocolate and “seed” the melted chocolate, it will cool. Think of it like adding ice cubes to a sink full of water.
- The chocolate should be tempered when all the chopped chocolate has been incorporated.
This technique may be faster, but it’s less precise. It is a great alternative for smaller kitchens.
Notes:
Fire and water will ruin chocolate and make it unusable. If you heat the chocolate on its own to over 129 degrees F (54C), you will burn or scorch it. If you wet the chocolate with water or steam while tempering it, the chocolate will seize and turn grainy and pasty.
Step 2: Place a wire rack over a sheet pan (to catch excess chocolate that drips from the molds). One at a time, fill the two halves of an apple chocolate mold with the tempered chocolate and let stand for 1 minute. Invert the mold over the wire rack and let the excess chocolate run out of the cavity. As the chocolate sets, use the palette knife to scrape away any excess chocolate on the mold. The chocolate shell should be about the thickness of a credit card. Repeat with the remaining molds. Refrigerate about 45 minutes to set.
Step 3: To un-mold, twist the mold slightly.
Step 4: Reserve the apple shell in a cool place until you’re ready to fill them.
Fill a piping bag with the soft caramel and set aside.
Make Cinnamon Marshmallow
1. Soak the gelatin sheets in a bowl of ice water until soft, about 20 minutes. If using powdered gelatin, sprinkle 4 teaspoons (12 grams) gelatin over 5 tablespoons (75 grams) water in a small bowl, stir, and let sit 20 minutes to bloom.
2. Place the egg whites in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk. Begin whipping them on medium speed. Adding egg whites to marshmallow helps make the final product much lighter and fluffier. Because it will fill a chocolate shell and doesn’t need to hold shape on its own, a softer marshmallow will work well here.
3. Combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook the syrup without stirring until it reaches 266 degrees F (130C).
4. Remove the syrup from the heat. If using gelatin sheets, squeeze out any excess water. Whisk the bloomed gelatin into the hot syrup until the gelatin is dissolved. Turn the mixer to high speed and slowly pour the hot syrup into the whipped whites, streaming it down the inside of the bowl to avoid hitting the whisk.
5. Continue to whip the marshmallow until almost completely cooled, about 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon and whip until it is incorporated.
6. Using a rubber spatula, place 2 large scoops of cinnamon marshmallow in another pipping bag so that it is one-third full. Push the marshmallow down toward the tip of the bag.
Assembling the Apple
1. While the marshmallow is still warm, cut an opening about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) wide straight across the tip of the bag. Starting from the center of the apple shell, pipe in marshmallow until each half apple shell is three-quarters full. Repeat with remaining halves of the chocolate apple shells.
2. Cut an opening about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) wide straight across the tip of the piping bag filled with soft caramel. Place the tip of that bag inside the cinnamon marshmallow and pipe until the marshmallow expands to fill the entire half of the shell. Repeat with the remaining halves of the chocolate apple shells.
3. Fill a medium pot with about 2 inches (5 cm) of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Place an inverted sheet pan over the pot to warm. When the pan feels warm to the touch, lightly rub the edge of the top half of an apple shell on the surface so that it starts to melt. Repeat with the bottom half of the apple shell. Line up the melted edges of both pieces to glue together. Use your fingers to rub the edges and create a firm seal.
4. Cover the work space where you will be airbrushing the apple shells with parchment paper.
5. Melt the red cocoa butter in a microwave for a few seconds (follow the instructions on the product). Fill your airbrush with the melted red cocoa butter and lightly spray the outside of each chocolate apple.
6. Warm a paring knife under hot running water and wipe it dry. Make a small hole in the center of the top half of the chocolate apple with the knife. Place a lollipop stick through the hole and press it into the marshmallow.
7. To create each “worm,” roll a piece of marzipan into a log. Fill a cornet with a small amount of melted dark chocolate and pipe 2 eyes onto each worm. Place the worms on top of the apples.
