During my early school days I was part of the Girl Guides and we used to go camping at least twice a year. I truly used to look forward to the camp fire nights (S’Mores nights). Back in those days we used to sandwich cookies with plain store bought vanilla marshmallows…yeah it was great and I still love them. The first time I made these, it was for my friends at university. We had decided to go winter camping in Scotland and decided that S’Mores were in order for the campfire nights :) Thinking back, I did not really like the flavour and I thought there was too much chai spice for me as I was not a chai drinker at all.
Fast forward to now and i’ve come to appreciate chai a bit more, thanks to my husband Zaheer (Z). Z loves both chai and parle-G biscuits beginning and also ending his day with a cup of chai. At the same time, I get satisfaction in creating successful new flavour combinations so this was an awesome match for me.
Why did I pair the marshmallow with Parle-G biscuits? Well for one, Z loves both and second, growing up in an Indian household we had a dedicated chai time at around 6pm when everyone was back from work. My dadima (grandma) used to keep all these biscuits on the table and I always used to eye on my dadaji’s (grandpa’s) chai cup to dunk my Parle-G. Ooooo trust me once you eat these biscuits dunked in chai, you’ll say keep ‘em coming :)
The chai spiced marshmallows are not heavily spiced. Each bite will have a subtle flavour of the spice yet the black tea will give a kick to your palette. Trust me, this is not your usual S’More biscuit sandwich…It not only has an awesome texture, but also a burst of flavour in each and every bite.
Chai Spiced Parle-G S'Mores
fun, toasty and elevates your camp fire nights
Serves: 20 portions | Calories*: 150 kcal
Ingredients:
5 Gelatine sheets (Halal & Kosher)
200 ml ice cold water for blooming the gelatine
100 ml water
1 tsp chai masala (ready made or homemade should work great)
225 g refine granulated sugar
1 black or oolong tea bag
40 Parle-G biscuits
200 g melted milk chocolate for dipping
Handful crushed toasted peanuts (optional)
Instructions:
Line your tray with parchment paper and arrange the Parle-G biscuits for later.
Soak your gelatine sheets by placing them in a bowl of ice cold water until it softens (10 minutes). Squeeze out all the excess water before using it and set aside.
Place the water in a saucepan along with the tea bag and spice mix. Make sure the water is lukewarm so that it steeps nicely for 10 minutes.
Once the steeped water is ready to be used, add the sugar and bring the mixture to boil to 115 celsius (stir until the sugar is dissolved and do not exceed 115 celsius). Remove from the stove top and cool to 90 celsius. Now add the bloomed gelatine that was set aside. Stir to make sure it has dissolved.
Now transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer (or if using a hand mixer transfer it to a bowl) and whisk at medium speed for 30 seconds. Then go to high speed until the mixture thickens (the correct thickness will be when you see the whisk leaving marks/striations when whisking). Add vanilla paste (optional) for added flavour and continue whisking until stiff peaks form (it should take between 4-8 minutes depending on how powerful your mixer is).
Pipe the mixture using a piping bag onto a Parle-G biscuit and sandwich with another Parle-G biscuit immediately. Repeat for the other biscuits.
After 1 hour the marshmallows will have set and you can now dip these beauties in the melted milk chocolate (i've used Callebaut milk chocolate) and add some crushed peanuts (this is optional). Note, you can melt the chocolate in a microwave...just don't overheat it (best is to heat, stir and check if more heating is needed).
These are best consumed within 3 days stored in an airtight container.
Tips on Variations:
1 tea bag of Earl Grey tea and lemon zest for the marshmallow.
1 tea bag of rose tea, 1 tsp rose water and toasted slivered pistachios.
*Please note that the nutritional information on this site is only an approximate.