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Marshmallow Sprinkle Sandwiches
Sprinkles! A whole lot of them. And where there are sprinkles there must be something gloriously gooey or spreadable for them to adhere to, so heaps of homemade vanilla bean marshmallow frosting and premium melted chocolate are a good start! :)
I made these Marshmallow Sprinkle Sandwiches as a quick-fix delight--they take about 15 minutes to make total. (And if you opted to make my last cake, the Banana-Graham S'mores Cake Supreme, there is a good chance you're still working on it, hehe.) Sometimes fast is fab!
I used store-bought chocolate ice cream sandwich cookies, whipped up a batch of vanilla bean marshmallow frosting, piped a huge dollop between two cookies, then another on top (if we're going to make sandwiches with thin cookies, double-decker is a must, right?). I melted some chocolate with oil for a shiny coating--I did a few with milk chocolate and another batch with semisweet (dark 53% cocoa solids) just for fun, dipped in once side of the sandwich, and then covered the chocolate areas with--you guessed it--sprinklage! This is such a great way to showcase your favourite sprinkles, and 
The main step to this treat is really just the homemade marshmallow frosting, which is essentially meringue (Swiss to be exact, since we are heating the egg whites and sugar before whipping) with a bit of light corn syrup. I always use a premium pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste because it's such a simple frosting that is all about the that meringuey-vanilla taste. The vanilla bean paste boasts those gorgeous little flecks we all love, which looks particularly appealing in this billowy, snow-white frosting.
(Now, of course these are "ice cream sandwich" cookies, so a more classic ice cream sandwich would be utterly delightful as well!)
Once the frosting is whipped up (literally), we get our cookie wafers, melted chocolate, sprinkles and piping bag ready to go. Of course if you were using homemade cookies or wafers, you would want to ensure they were completely cooled before building your sandwiches.
Just a note that since these are ice cream sandwich wafers, they soften up once filled, so if you were to use a crispy cookie of another kind, they would stay more firm. You might remember these Red Velvet Moon Pies I made this time last year, which are very similar but using a homemade cookie--also incredible! Just more time-consuming.
And now the (extra) fun part!
We just lay out 6 of the cookies face up on a wax-paper lined baking sheet, fill the pastry bag with the frosting and simply pipe a big ole' dollop of frosting in the middle of each cookie (for consistency, be sure to count while you pipe each dollop--I counted to three for each one). Top each with another cookie, and then do it again on top to create a double-decker. Since the marshmallow frosting is a serious "glue," you don't need to wait to dip, dunk and sprinkle. We can just get right to it (since we all know this is the best part!).
The hardest part of this whole operation is going to be choosing your sprinkles--trust me. But it's kind of impossible to go wrong! I opted for some of my fancier medleys and love the way the gold bits looks against the dark chocolate. Classic rainbow sprinkles, Valentine's sprinkles, or any sprinkle in the universe will work. I used a few from my shop collection (see my notes at bottom of post for which ones).
Talk about a beautiful mess! We dip one end of each cookie into the melted chocolate coating, let the excess drip back into the bowl, place the sandwich back on the wax-paper and start a sprinklin'. For the sides, you'll want to "throw" the sprinkles at them. All of the excess sprinkles can be put back in their bottles for later use, so you can be as heavy-handed as you want with the tossing.
I added one of those gorgeous pearlescent 18mm krispie-filled dragées to each one (see Sweetapolita's Notes below for source) because they are everything. That said, you can pretty much stick any sweet you love to the melted chocolate--the more variance in the mix the better, I think. As you can see above, I went sort of crazy.
As you can imagine, this is such a fun project for cakelets. There's no waiting involved--it's quick and easy, colourful, yummy beyond and messy--what more could a kid ask for? And of course the kid in all of us urgently needs these in his or her life.
Serve them up with a cup of tea, hot chocolate and marshmallows, cappuccino or just a big dose of happy. :)
Here's the recipe:
Sprinkle Sandwiches
Gooey, double-decker marshmallow filled sandwiches coated with premium dark or milk chocolate and embellished with heaps of colourful sprinkles.
For the Vanilla Bean Marshmallow Frosting:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 cup 200 g superfine sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
For the Chocolate Coating:
- 8 ounces 240 g best-quality dark or milk chocolate, chopped or callets
- 3 tablespoons 45 ml vegetable oil
You will also need:
- 12 Store-bought ice cream sandwich cookies plus a few extra in case of breakage OR homemade cookies of your choice
- Sprinkles of your choice
- Large 18" pastry bag
- Large plain round pastry tip
Make the Vanilla Bean Marshmallow Frosting:
- Wipe the stainless steel bowl and whisk of an electric mixer with a paper towel dampened with lemon juice to eliminate any trace of grease. Put the egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar in the bowl and put it over a saucepan of barely simmering water (be sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water). Whisk constantly but gently until the mixture reaches 130°F (54°C), about 7 minutes depending on the temperature your egg whites were to begin with.
- Transfer the bowl to the mixer. Beat the mixture on low speed for 2 minutes, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes. Increase the speed to hight and beat until very thick and glossy, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla bean (or extract) and beat well.
- This frosting is best used right away, but it will keep covered at room temperature for up to an hour (once it's piped into the cookies it's fine, but just for ideal spreading/piping consistency).
Assemble the Marshmallow Sprinkle Sandwiches:
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper and lay 6 of the cookies inside-up on the wax paper.
- Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip (I use Ateco ) with the prepared Marshmallow Frosting and pipe a big dollop on top. Place another cookie, right side up, on top and repeat with another dollop and cookie.
Make the Chocolate Coating:
- In a double boiler, or in a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and oil until smooth, stirring occasionally.
- Carefully dip one end of each sandwich in the chocolate coating and lay back down on the wax paper. Sprinkle the chocolate areas with your favourite sprinkles, tossing the sprinkles to cover the sides. Let sit to firm up.
- Once the sandwiches are firmed up, you can transfer them to a plate and collect the remaining sprinkles to put back in their bottles.
- Best enjoyed right away.
- You can (and totally should) also make these with ice cream--yum! Vanilla, Cotton Candy, Bubble Gum, Cookies & Creme . . . imagine?
- If you felt like using a more home-baked "cookie-ish" cookie, you could make these chocolate fudge cookies (or your favourite recipe) and create the ultimate homemade sprinkle sandwich.
- For the chocolate cookies, I used store-bought ice cream sandwich cookies, which I found at Bulk Barn (Canada) in the cookie aisle in a single sleeve. I tried to find something similar online to show you, but I couldn't find the exact shape/style--you can check out your local bulk food shop, or you can use always use Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies found at grocery stores, which are round.
- For the Marshmallow Filling, I used Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste to flavour.
- For the chocolate dipping, I used Callebaut Milk Chocolate Callets and I also did some with Semisweet Chocolate Callets. White chocolate would also be divine! And truth be told, you can use any chocolate you love--fancy or not. I just tend to use the Callebaut for everything I do because it's my favourite for frosting, brownies, cake, etc. so I keep a lot of it on hand. And I find that once you get used to the good stuff in baking, it's hard to go back!
- The sprinkles used in this post are all from my online shop: Sugar Fairy, Fairy Tale, Frosted and Pastel Dreams but, needless to say, ANY sprinkle in the universe would look awesome on these.
- The gorgeous, jumbo shimmery white balls (Crispy Dragee Pearlescent White - 700 g) and pink balls (Crispy Dragee Pearlescent Pink - 700 g) are crunchy krispie and milk chocolate inside (not bubblegum). So gorgeous!
- For those who love nifty little kitchenwares, I found the ivory ceramic "cupcake liner" ramekins last week at HomeSense (Canada), and the turquoise "Fresh Day, Fresh Start" mug at Indigo online. Spring is the best time for kitchenware shopping!