Marshmallow top hats recipe

Marshmallow top hats are a fun afternoon tea treat that are ideal for bringing out if you've got girlfriends coming round, or you can enlist the help of your little ones to shape the Rice Krispies (if you dare!). They're a slightly more grown-up take on the classic Rice Krispie squares recipe and look a little more sophisticated too! Strawberry laces and sweets make really nice decorations for the hats. They don't have to be perfect and the more creative you get with them, the better! See what you can come up with and how you can decorate them by giving them a go today. They only take 25 mins to prep and then you need to leave them to set!

Ingredients

• 40g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 50g marshmallows
• 3tbsp golden syrup
• 75g Rice Krispies
• 400g royal icing sugar
• Food colouring, we used pink, blue, yellow and lilac
• 9 marshmallows, snipped in half
• Sprinkles and sweets, to decorate

Method

1. For the base, grease 16 holes of a muffin tin. Melt the butter, marshmallows and syrup in a large pan set over a low heat, then mix until combined. Take off the heat and add the Rice Krispies. Mix until well coated.

2. Press about 1tsp of the mixture into each hole and press lightly with the back of a greased spoon to even out. Leave for at least 1 hr to set.

3. Meanwhile, beat 4 tbsp of cold water with the royal icing sugar, then divide it between four bowls. Add a little food colouring to each bowl, then add a little more water so that the icing is just slightly less runny than honey. Fill four disposable piping bags with the coloured icing mixture – leave the ends uncut for now.

4. Remove the Rice Krispie bases from the tray. Snip the end off one of the piping bags and use a little of the icing to stick half a marshmallow onto 4 of the bases. Next, pipe a blob on top of the marshmallow, then using the tip, spread the icing and let it drip down the sides. Repeat with the other colours.

5. Leave the hats to firm up slightly before adding the sprinkles. Leave to set completely, then stick on any big sweets with leftover icing.