i love toasted marshmallows. gooey, sweet, toastey, usually coming part and parcel with a roaring fire…  you’d be mad not to, really. on their own or sandwiched in sticky s’mores, they are hard to beat.

until you stick them in a milkshake. you read right friends… a toasted marshmallow milkshake. i know. i knooooow. vanilla was always my shake flavour of choice as a youngster, and the addition of these puffed up, golden brown, oozing clouds takes them to pleasure town. they are indecent really.

i finally succumbed to the idea of this cupful of pure joy and made a test batch after coming across a few different versions of the recipe over the last year or so. i tested,  tweaked a bit, tested again, tweaked a little more… not so much to perfect the recipe, which is pretty freakin amazing, but really just because the test tasting part of the exercise is just so damn pleasurable. after photographing this last batch, i slurped down one of the shakes, y’know, just to check it really, truly, was perfect. and it was. so naturally i slurped down the second one – just to pat myself on the back. i write this with the buttons on my skinny jeans undone. *hic* worth it.

the ratio of ice cream to milk takes this gorgeous creamy drink to thickshake territory, which is just the way i like it. who needs slightly frothed milk? not me. give me ‘drink it with a spoon’ thickness please. i use vanilla paste, to get those heavenly little black flecks of vanilla – i like to see my flavour as well as taste it. 

for two milkshakes, you will need:

• 13 large marshmallows (i use kraft jet-puffed)
• 5 scoops good quality vanilla ice cream
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 tsp vanilla paste

spread the marshmallows on a baking sheet and place under the grill (broiler) for a couple of minutes. watch them carefully – they will smoke a little and once that happens they’ll start to turn golden very quickly. if you prefer your marshmallows charred black, toast them over a gas flame (or better yet, a real fire!) but i adore the pretty golden brown they go under the grill.

remove your puffed up, golden, oozing clouds from the oven and allow to cool while you get your mixing on. place the remaining ingredients in a blender and whiz them up. add 8 of the marshmallows to the blender and whiz again for a few seconds until they’re all up in the milkshake’s business.

you should have 5 remaining marshmallows. eat one now – that’s your cook’s treat. yum. you’re welcome. pour the milkshakes into glasses and top with two marshmallows each, golden side up for prettiness. ah, lovely. now stick a spoon in, shovel a greedy mouthful of marshmallow and milkshake into your face and slurp down the rest.

like i said… you’re welcome.

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