A SWEET TREAT
Nothing says Valentine’s Day like a heart-shaped box of chocolates.
This year, celebrate your love of the classic and make a crispy rice treat heart “box” you can eat right along with the chocolates themselves. Or gift one to your favorite Valentine — hopefully they will share it with you!
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Here’s what you’ll need:
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 6 c mini marshmallows
- 8 c crispy rice cereal
- 10 drops red food coloring
- White decorating icing
- Red decorating icing
- Gold food spray
- 1 heart template (Draw or print out a basic heart shape that’s approximately 10 inches wide and 8 inches tall, and place it under a sheet of parchment paper. Do not put any food directly on the template.)
NOTE: Gather all ingredients and supplies before you start, as this recipe comes together rather quickly. You don’t want your crispy treat to harden before you are able to shape it into a heart.
Excerpted from Treat Yourself by Jessica Siskin Workman Publishing Copyright © 2017. Photographs by Evi Abeler.
Make the Crispy Treat:
1. In a large, nonstick stockpot, melt butter over low heat until it’s 80% melted, about 1 minute, 20 seconds. Note: If the butter begins to sizzle, lower the heat. It should melt very slowly.
2. Add the mini marshmallows, and stir gently with a silicon spatula, coating them with melted butter, about 30 seconds.
3. When the marshmallows are about 80% melted (when you can still see the individual marshmallow shapes but they are beginning to run together), add the food coloring. Stir for another 15 seconds and then turn off the heat.
4. Stir gently until the color is well distributed but the marshmallows are still only about 80% melted, about 35 seconds. (You should still be able to identify individual pieces within the melted ones.) It’s important to work quickly and keep your eye on the pot. The marshmallows should never become liquid. Note: If the marshmallows melt too much, the mixture will be too hot to handle—wait 1–2 minutes and then mold quickly!
5. Add the cereal and mix well, until the marshmallows and cereal are fully combined, about 40 seconds. Do not overmix.
Make the Box of Chocolates:
1. Pour about 90% of the crispy treat mixture onto the parchment-covered heart template on the work surface, reserving the rest in the pot. Generously coat your hands with cooking spray. Use both hands to mold the mixture over the template, smoothing the edges until the mixture begins to firm up into the heart shape.
2. Working quickly so the remaining mixture doesn’t harden too much, use white icing with a round tip to draw a line around the perimeter of the heart, about 1 inch from the edge.
3. Draw squiggles inside the heart outline with the icing.
4. Use an offset spatula to spread the icing until it’s smooth.
5. Using the gold food spray, spray over the white icing.
6. Remove the reserved mixture from the pot and place it on the treat, molding it to create a 1-inch-high raised border around the edges of the heart, covering the edge of the iced area.
7. Using red decorator icing with a round tip, line the seam where the bottom of the box and the border meet.
8. Place the chocolates on the gold area.