Popcorn and Salted Caramel Mallow Cake

My brother has recently become obsessed with cheesecake – so obsessed in fact, that while I was away in Madeira he sneaked into my house to borrow a cake tin so he could try and make one himself.  Long story short, he forgot to use full fat milk and sadly, it collapsed.  Everyone’s first cheesecake is a disaster; when I was twelve I tried to make one I’d seen in a magazine, but I used cottage cheese and the wrong kind of cream and just ended up with a bowl of goop with chopped bananas floating in it.  Bleugh!  Even my Mum and Dad refused to eat that one, and – let me tell you – they’ve bravely eaten a lot of my kitchen disasters over the years.  When I told them I was planning to make a cheesecake for my brother’s birthday I think they probably had flashbacks to the banana goop cake.

Thankfully since then I’ve mastered the Mallow Cake.  It tastes like a cheesecake, it’s got a creamy texture like a cheesecake, but there’s no soft cheese to be found in the ingredients.  It’s basically a mix of milk, marshmallows and whipped double cream, and it’s really easy to adapt with any flavours, base or toppings you fancy.  Cheat’s Cheesecake.  🙂

Mallow Cake

Ingredients

• 300g of crushed biscuits (I used Oreos)
• 50g melted butter
• 150g plain marshmallows
• 125ml full fat milk
• 250ml double cream

1. Blitz the biscuits in a blender and then stir in the melted butter.  Transfer the mix into a cake tin with removable sides and press down to create the base.
2. Put the marshmallows and milk in a saucepan and melt together over a low heat.  Don’t let it boil!  Remove the mix from the heat once it’s light and foamy.
3. Whisk the cream to stiff peaks and then fold in the marshmallow mix (at this point you can add any flavours you fancy!).
4. Pour the mix into the cake tin on top of the base and then allow it to set in the fridge for at least four hours, but overnight is preferable.
5. Once the cake is set, remove from the tin and decorate.  I added salted caramel sauce and chopped toffee popcorn.