The Perfect Combination
I am the first to admit that, generally speaking, I go into the kitchen intending to make one thing, only to end up with something totally different. This past weekend, though, I took this concept to the 20th power….you just have to bear with me for a few paragraphs to understand why.
Saturday night I was at a wonderful restaurant that makes all of its desserts in-house, including the rocky road ice cream sundaes. When asked if all components were made on the premises, they informed us that the ice cream, chocolate sauce and marshmallows were but the graham crackers were not. My friends and I had just finished discussing the cardboard quality of store bought graham crackers, so this made our solution quite simple, skip the graham crackers and add more marshmallows.
Sunday rolled around and I realized that I had eaten the last Chocolate Covered Potato Chip. Not good! I like to have these in my freezer in case friends stop by and/or I get hungry. Not a big deal, though, because I had Ruffles in the pantry.
I melted the chocolate and reached up high for the chips. One very major problem, they were Ruffles Sour Cream and Onion. Oops! Time to head to Publix, “Where shopping is a pleasure.”
As I walked into the store, I couldn’t help but think about my s’more conversation from the previous evening. Making a s’more was out of the question because the chocolate was already melted. However, my mind started wandering in a totally different direction from potato chips. I thought that pretzels have more flavor than graham crackers and that the chocolate would have cooled enough by the time I got home so as not to melt the marshmallows.
Yet, that still seemed a tad too boring for my mood. I wanted to add a little fruit flavor into the mix and decided to try dried cherries.
Shoshana and I were heading to a friend’s house for Father’s Day dinner. Enough other families were going to be there, thus providing me with plenty of tasters. Everyone ate and everyone raved.
When I got home, I posted a comment on Facebook about Twisted Cherry Mallow Clusters. My friend Ilana Miller summed them up best: “First you become aware of the smooth silky chocolate, next the tart sensation of the cherries seize your tongue as your teeth sink into chewiness from both the cherries and the marshmallow, which sends a burst of sweetness filling your mouth, as it’s simultaneously countered by the crunch and saltiness from the pretzels. The perfect combination.” I think I need Ilana to critique more recipes!!
| Twisted Cherry Mallow Clusters | Print |
- 3 cups semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 cups mini pretzels, broken into small pieces
- 1½ cups dried cherries, chopped
- 1 cup miniature marshmallows
- Line two parchment baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil and set aside.
- Stir chocolate chips and vegetable oil in small bowl. Microwave until almost melted and then stir to melt remaining chips. Set aside to cool, about 20 minutes.
- Stir together pretzels, cherries and marshmallows in large bowl. Pour chocolate over and stir until completely blended together.
- Either scoop out clusters using a small cookie dough scoop or pour mixture onto baking sheets and spread out. Be sure that the mixture is still touching or you will not have clusters.
- Freeze until set.
- Break large mixture apart into individual clusters. Store in plastic bag in the freezer.
