A festive twist on a classic favourite, Kirsten Tibballs’ Chocolate Marshmallow Christmas Trees feature a crunchy biscuit base topped with fluffy homemade marshmallow, dipped in rich dark chocolate and finished with shimmering silver foil for a truly magical Christmas treat.

Dark Chocolate Ganache Tree

Ingredients
100g dark chocolate
100ml thickened cream
12 gingernut snap biscuits

Method
1. Place the dark chocolate into a saucepan over an induction cooktop on setting 4 and stir continuously until melted halfway, then transfer it into a bowl.
2. In a clean saucepan, bring the cream to a boil.
3. Pour the boiled cream over the half-melted chocolate and stand for 2 minutes, then whisk by hand until completely melted and incorporated to create a ganache.
4. Cover the surface of the ganache with plastic wrap and allow to set to piping consistency at room temperature. 
5. Arrange the gingernut snap biscuits, bottom-side up, over a lined tray.
6. Transfer the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a 12mm round piping tip.
7. In the centre of each biscuit, pipe a 2cm dot, then pipe two smaller dots on top, each gradually smaller than the one below it.
8. Set aside at room temperature while you prepare the marshmallow.

Vanilla Marshmallow

Ingredients
8g gold gelatine sheets, or 4 individual gelatine sheets
65ml cold water (A)
45ml cold water (B)
180g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method
1. Place the gelatine sheets one at a time into a bowl of cold water to soak. Once soft and pliable, gently squeeze to remove the excess water, then place into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, and add the water and the vanilla (A).
2. Place the water (B) and sugar into a saucepan and bring to a boil.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved, pour the hot syrup over the gelatine and water and whip to create a marshmallow.
4. Stop whipping when the marshmallow reaches room temperature and holds without flowing.
5. Transfer the marshmallow into a piping bag fitted with a 12mm round piping tip.
6. Pipe the marshmallow onto the biscuits to completely coat the piped ganache, starting at the base and spiraling up to the top.
7. Allow the marshmallow to set at room temperature for approximately 2 hours.

Chocolate Coating

Ingredients
1000g dark chocolate, see notes
Silver leaf flakes, for garnishing

Method
1. Temper the dark chocolate by placing it into a saucepan over an induction cooktop on setting 4. Stir continuously until you have 50% solids and 50% liquid. Transfer the chocolate into a heat-proof plastic bowl and stir vigorously until the solids have completely melted.
2. Transfer the tempered chocolate into a small bowl deep enough to submerge the Christmas tree biscuits into.
3. Place a biscuit, marshmallow-side down, into the chocolate. Gently tap it down using the handle of a palette knife or fork until the biscuit is level with the surface of the chocolate.
4. Use the palette knife or fork to flip the biscuit right-side up, lift the biscuit and tap it on the surface of the tempered chocolate to draw off any excess coating.
5. Transfer onto a sheet of baking paper and, before the chocolate sets, sprinkle with silver leaf flakes.
6. Repeat to coat the remaining marshmallow Christmas tree biscuits, gently reheating the chocolate with a hair dryer as required.

Notes:
You will require a large volume of chocolate to be able to completely dip the marshmallow Christmas tree biscuits into. Any remaining chocolate can be retempered for another application or used in other recipes such as brownies.
If you wish to use less chocolate, hold the biscuit base and rotate the tree in a smaller amount of tempered chocolate to only coat the marshmallow.
If completely coated in chocolate, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.