Serves 6
Preparation time 20 minutes
Resting time 3 hours
Ingredients
3 eggs
100g (scant ½ cup) caster (superfine) sugar
250g mascarpone
200ml (scant 1 cup) strong coffee
4 Tbsp Amaretto
20 soft chocolate biscuits (cookies)
Decoration
200ml (scant 1 cup) whipping cream, chilled
20g (scant ¼ cup) icing (confectioners) sugar
6 white marshmallows
30g milk or dark (bittersweet) chocolate, melted
6 orange jelly beans
Strawberry lace sweets (candies)
Specialist equipment
6 short glass tumblers
Piping (pastry) bag
10cm smooth nozzle (tip)
Method
Break the eggs and separate the whites from the yolks. Using an electric whisk, beat the yolks with the caster sugar in a mixing bowl until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the mascarpone and continue to whisk until fully incorporated with a smooth uniform texture.
Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and beat with an electric whisk until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whisked egg whites into the mascarpone mixture, taking care not to deflate it.
Pour the coffee with the Amaretto into a shallow bowl, then, one by one, dip the chocolate biscuits in the coffee mix and place in the bottom of 6 short glass tumblers. You may need to cut the biscuits to fit the glasses; do this before soaking the biscuits in the coffee. Take care not to soak the biscuits too much or they will become too soft. When you have a layer of biscuits at the bottom of each glass, cover it generously with the mascarpone. Repeat the layers until all of the biscuits and mascarpone mixture have been used. Leave to stand in a cool place for 3 hours.
Using an electric whisk, whip the cream and icing sugar together in a mixing bowl until you have a firm whipped cream. Fit a piping bag with a smooth nozzle and fill the bag with the whipped cream. Pipe the cream on top of the biscuit and mascarpone layers to form the body of the snowman. Place a marshmallow on top of the piped cream for the head.
Using melted chocolate, stick an orange jelly bean on the marshmallow to make the nose of the snowman. Using a toothpick dipped in the melted chocolate, draw his face. You can also draw arms and buttons, if you like. Wrap a strawberry lace around the bottom of the marshmallow to make a scarf. Use your imagination and have fun!
Serve immediately, or keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
The book
Christmas Treats, Guillaume Marinette, photography Sandra Mahut, Welbeck RRP$22.95
