Do you know the story behind the delightful and charming little Sweetie Pie? This seductive mouthful of soft marshmallow with its crunchy cookie or wafer base and smooth chocolate casing is traditionally from Denmark. These Danish sweets are called Flodebolle, meaning cream balls as they were originally made with cream. The whipped and sweetened egg white gives the sweets a longer shelf life and today it is the preferred and much-loved filling.
Chef Eric Bulpitt and the Pierneef à La Motte pastry team added two dainty drops of rose essence to their recipe and the result is a flavourful and fluffy treat. Get these decadent rose-infused bites from the La Motte Farm Shop or try the recipe below to make your own!
Rose-infused Sweetie Pie
First make the Marzipan
225 g ground almonds
125 g caster sugar
125 g sifted icing sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sherry
1-2 drops vanilla extract.
Blitz the ground almonds and sugars together in a processor. In another bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients, then add to the dry ingredients.
Process well to combine, but don’t over work. Remove from processor and pound gently to release some of the oil from the almonds. Knead with your hands until smooth, then cover until ready to use.
Bases
200 g marzipan (use 50% of the marzipan you made with the recipe above)
50 g icing sugar
40 g egg white approximately one egg white from a large egg – if using smaller eggs, weigh them.
In a mixer, blend marzipan, icing sugar and egg white until you have a smooth mass.
Turn the oven to 180 degrees and line a baking tray with parchment.
You can either pipe out 16-18 dollops of marzipan and flatten them into round even discs using some icing sugar to ensure it doesn’t stick to your fingers – or you can use icing sugar and roll them, then flatten them into shape. Make sure the discs are even and not too thick (they will puff up slightly during baking).
Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden. Leave to cool completely. These will remain slightly soft in the middle.
Marshmallow
45 g caster sugar
25 g glucose
30 g egg white
2 drops rose essence
Bring the sugar and glucose to the boil in a small pan and bring up to 117 ˚C
Pour the hot sugar into the egg white while whisking, continue to whisk until cold, thick and glossy.
When cold put the mixture in a piping bag and pipe onto the marzipan bases to cover the whole circle.
Chocolate
300 g dark chocolate
Garnish
Dried rose petals
Method
Melt 200 g chocolate to 49˚C, take it off the heat and add the remaining 100 g, stirring until smooth.
Cover the rose meringue with chocolate and refrigerate.
Garnish with dried rose petals.
