Flødeboller (Danish Marshmallow Puffs)

Last night I went to dinner at my friend Ida’s house, and I wanted to bring a dessert that looks pretty but that we could all eat with our hands without any big fuss. So I decided to make Danish flødeboller!

Flødeboller are Danish marshmallow puffs made with baked marzipan cookies topped with whipped vanilla egg whites and dipped in chocolate. You can also decorate them with coconut flakes, freeze dried berries, or whatever else you like. Flødeboller, also called Danish dream puffs, are one of those desserts that look a lot more impressive than they really are. They’re actually quite easy to make, once you get the hang of dipping them in chocolate – and I have some tips to help you with that.

Tips

These days you’ll see flødeboller with all sorts of different cookie bases, but in Denmark they’re usually made with marzipan. If you don’t like marzipan, or want something easier, you can use cookies instead. One of my friends is allergic to nuts, so I made a few flødeboller with oreo cookie bases instead. I simply separated the oreos and removed the cream filling before piping on the egg white filling.

I like to keep the cookie bases fairly small, as the flødeboller are easier to dunk in chocolate when they’re on on the smaller side. I use a champagne flute to cut the marzipan into circles.

I then bake the marzipan cookies for a few minutes so they harden a bit, which makes them a stronger base for the flødeboller. If the marzipan spreads at all during baking, you can use the glass to once again cut out the center of the cookie, but of course that’s totally optional – I like to do it to keep the circles perfectly round.

I like to add seeds from a vanilla pod to the syrup mixture to give the flødeboller filling a nice vanilla flavor, but that is entirely optional. You can also experiment with adding other flavors if you like!

I always whip egg whites in a glass bowl, as plastic bowls can hold onto fats, which keep the egg whites from stiffening. You also want to be incredibly careful not to let any egg yolk in the egg whites, as that will also soften them.

Add the boiling syrup very slowly. I had a little bit at a time, continuing to whisk constantly. At the end you should be able to flip the bowl upside down without the egg whites moving.

You can use a piping bag to pipe the egg whites onto the cookie bases, or if you don’t have a piping bag, simply cut a hole in the corner of a plastic bag. I think the egg whites look prettiest when piped with a round tip, but you can experiment if you like.

If this is your first time making flødeboller, I recommend starting with just a little bit of egg white mixture on each cookie, as they do get harder to coat in chocolate the more egg whites you add.

It’s very important that you let the flødeboller sit for an hour at room temperature before dipping them in chocolate. This allows the egg whites to harden a bit and stick to the cookie bases, which makes them a lot easier to dip in chocolate.

I coat my flødeboller in dark chocolate, but you can use white or milk chocolate, if you prefer.

Pour the melted chocolate into a glass or mug that is wide enough to fit the flødeboller, but narrow enough that the chocolate is deep for dipping.

To coat the flødeboller in chocolate, I hold onto the edges of the cookie base and then dunk the egg whites right up to the cookie, so that the egg whites are fully coated. Then I let the chocolate drip off for a second or two (but not longer! ) and then I quickly flip them back up and set them on my baking mat to harden. This works best if you move quickly.

If the dipping chocolate starts to harden, you can pop it in the microwave for a few seconds so that it’s thin enough for dipping.

If you’re struggling with the dipping, you could instead use a spoon and brush to drip chocolate over the flødeboller instead. It won’t look as smooth as when you dip it, but it’s easier. You can do this over a wire rack and place a bowl beneath the flødeboller to catch the excess chocolate.

Wait until the chocolate has set for a few minutes before sprinkling any topping, so that the topping doesn’t sink too much into the chocolate.

Store the flødeboller in the fridge.

You can switch the recipe from US measurements to metric by clicking from “US Customary” to “Metric” under Ingredients.