It all started with the marshmallows I had left over from Sweets party but it didn't end there.......
Yup I had strawberries left over as well. Lots and lots of strawberries. Now I'm not going to dwell on the obvious issue which is why I didn't just put them out on the dessert table regardless of whether they colour matched the rest of the stuff.
I'm
a glass half full type of girl so I decided to take those strawberries and the rest of the left overs and make them so fabulous
that no one could resist them.
I had already made up my pretty macaron and marshmallow tower and then I thought, hmmm this looks good but what if I added strawberries.
So I did and it looked great. It transformed the tower from a dreamy pastel tower of sugary sweetness into a more complex textural and vibrantly coloured dessert offering with a choice for anyone who wanted to join in but still be healthy.
Or something like that. It looked good and it tasted great so I guess that is the main thing.
I did think about dipping the strawberries in white chocolate coloured pink and adding some more sugar flowers but that would take away some of the texture and colour, plus I mostly believe that the strawberries are best on their own. This way you can have the fresh fruit and then a macaron as well.
I was a little worried that the strawberries would weep and ruin the
tower, but I left it out for a few hours as an experiment and it still
looked great with just minimal juice running down the fondant (note the
weather was mild when I tried this out).
How to make a macaron, marshmallow and strawberry tower
This is a modified version of my
last post just replacing the mini macarons. Make sure everyone eating from the tower knows there are toothpicks
being used and check kids marshmallows before they eat them to ensure
sticks have been removed.
Styro foam cone 10cm (4") bottom by 25cm (10") high (available craft stores)
Ready Roll Fondant
Large Rolling pin
Toothpicks
8-10 medium strawberries washed, dried and with the leaves cut off
15-20 regular macarons (
Click HERE for macaron recipe)
up to 40 marshmallows (
mine from Big Lolly)
Sugar Flowers (
CLICK HERE for instructions to make your own)
Knead fondant, dust workbench and roll out fondant until quite thing.
Brush the cone with water and then wrap the fondant around cutting off
any excess at the back where it joins and pressing the fondant down it
into place on the cone. Use fondant smoothers if you have them otherwise
you can use your hands,
Cut toothpicks in half and starting
at the top push a toothpick into the cone through the fondant. Stick a strawberry onto the toothpick and then repeat the process working your way
down in a softly spiraling line as shown in the picture (the picture shows mini macarons instead of strawberries). This will be
the front center of your tower so make sure it is adhered in a pretty
even line. Push a whole toothpick into the top point of the fondant
covered cone.
Starting at the top again attach a layer of marshmallows on either side
of the strawberries. I used toothpicks in the picture, but you can use royal
icing# to adhere the marshmallows as the toothpicks can lodge in the
marshmallows when being removed.
#do not adhere macarons with royal icing as the delicate shells will not
easily lift off, toothpicks do not stick to the macarons the same as
they do marshmallows.
Work a layer of macarons on each side of the marshmallows. Continue to
adhere marshmallows and macarons to the back of the tower. The back of
the macaron tower will not be as pretty as the front, but try to work
the macarons and marshmallows in a design that looks even.
Finish the tower off with a regular sized macaron at the top of the cone (in the whole toothpick you popped in the top at the start).
Using royal icing adhere a few sugar flowers to the macarons as decoration.
Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook '
Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes,
candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is
available at most online book stores.
Original Ideas, photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer do not reuse without permission.
