Wagon Wheel Brownies

Were you even a British child in the early 90's if you didn't open your lunchbox to reveal a delicious chocolate Wagon Wheel sitting beside your sweaty cheese sandwiches?  They were the golden child of the school diners, kids would try and swap their whole lunch for a Jammy Wagon Wheel. Who wants a pink wafer when you can have the bad boy of the biscuit world.  Fast forward 23 years and I'm still partial, even though I'm pretty sure they have gotten significantly smaller. That or it's just my hands have gotten bigger, who knows.

 

After the success of my Jammy Dodger Blondies I've been on the lookout for more treats I can splice up into my baked goods.  When I saw the recipe for Wagon Wheel Brownies in Olive Magazine I just had to give it a go and cursed myself for not thinking of it first.  

Brownie batter, swirled with lashings of marshmallow fluff and raspberry jam with the periodic hunk of Wagon Wheel. What could go wrong?!  This is a brownie fit for a queen. Turn up anywhere with a tray of these babies and you'll make friends for life. Just don't blame me when they follow you around demanding more.

Wagon Wheel Brownies
( Based on a recipe from Olive Magazine)

Ingredients:

• 375g unsalted butter
• 375g good quality plain chocolate
• 6 large, free range eggs
• 350g golden caster sugar
• 225g plain flour
• 5tbsp marshmallow fluff
• 5tbsp raspberry jam
• 3 Wagon Wheel biscuits, roughly chopped

Cooking Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170°C and line a 33x23 brownie tin with baking parchment.
2. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan melt the butter and chocolate together over a low heat. Allow to cool slightly. Mix the eggs and sugar together in a large jug and pour into the melted chocolate, mix till combined. Add in the flour and stir until just combined, take care not to over mix at this point.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out. Spoon blobs of marshmallow fluff and raspberry jam over the brownie batter and marble with a knife. Poke chunks of Wagon Wheel throughout the brownies. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until there is just a slight jiggle in the centre of the pan. Leave to cool completely, preferably overnight in the fridge. Cut into squares and enjoy.

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Oreo Swirl Marshmallows

Marshmallows have a reputation for being difficult litte buggers to make.  The squidgy, flumptious nature of them just screams "don't bother, buy a bag instead". I'm here to tell you to ignore that voice, just push it down. Instead, gather together a few ingredients and prepare to be plesently surprised about how easy it actually is.

The best thing about making marshmallows is the fact your stand mixer does the majority of the work for you, all you've got to do is boil up some sugar.  This is not a job for little hands, so if you're making these with kids make sure they stand well back while you boss this bit.

If you're not feeling the oreo bit, or just can't face washing the food processor, you can just leave this bit out and make plain vanilla marshmallows.  Just as tasty but nowhere near as fun, if you ask me.

Oreo Swirl Marshmallows

Ingredients:

• For the Oreo swirl 
• 1 pack of Oreo cookies 154g
• 50g coconut oil


• For the marshmallows 
• 3 envelopes of gelatin
• 100ml cold water
• 400g caster sugar
• 250g corn syrup (found in the American section)
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 250g icing sugar for dusting and coating

Cooking Directions:

1. For the Oreo swirl put the Oreos and coconut oil into a blender and blend for around 3 minutes until it turns into a wet paste. Set aside.
2. For the marshmallows grease a 9x13" tin with cake release or a generous amount of oil. If using oil line the tin with cling film, leaving an overhang around the edges.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer pour in the water and add the gelatin, let stand for 10 minutes until thick. In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan combine 50ml cold water with the sugar and corn syrup. Bring to a rolling boil and continue to boil on a high heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
4. Turn the mixer to high and while it's whipping carefully pour the hot sugar mixture into the bowl in a slow, steady stream. Continue mixing on a high speed for 13 minutes until thick and sticky. Add in the vanilla extract, mix to combine. With a rubber spatular marble the Oreo paste through the marshmallow and transfer into the prepared pan. Smooth the top down as best you can and allow to set overnight.
5. When set remove the marshmallow from the pan, spray a sharp knife with oil and cut into small squares. Toss the cut marshmallows in the icing sugar and enjoy. Marshmallows will last a few weeks in an airtight container.

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