Marshmallows Galore!

The other day Rue de Lis did a giveaway by posting a recipe on Facebook and having people guess what the recipe was for. It was really fun! Was it a mousse? Jello? Whipped frosting?

Years ago, when I first found out that it only took sugar, water and gelatin to make marshmallows, I thought it was a trick! They seem like they should have egg whites, since they are meringue-y (Yes, that's a word I just invented). But nay! No egg whites.

They are surprisingly easy to make, and so good to eat! 

Recipe:

2 packs powdered gelatin (plain)

10 Tb water 

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

pinch salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

First of all, bloom the 2 packs of gelatin in the 10 Tb water. Make sure to slowly sprinkle the powdered gelatin over the water so it doesn't clump. The picture on the left is what it should look like after you have added all the powder. Allow the mixture to "bloom" five minutes, then microwave it for 40 seconds until it is liquid again, like the picture on the right.

 Next, In a heavy sauce pan, place the 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup water and pinch of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high, but don't stir it. If you need to stir, just swirl the pan. Stirring can cause it to crystallize. Once the mixture hits soft ball stage, or 240 degrees F, take it off the heat.

The syrup should look like this when it is ready.

Whisk the melted gelatin into the syrup.

Dump the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer with whisk attachment. Begin to whisk on medium high until the mixture turns white, should take about 4 minutes. 

Once the mixture is white, stop the mixer and add the vanilla. Begin mixing again.

Whip the mixture on high until it becomes very white and stiff. About 10 more minutes. Should look like this:

While the mixture is whipping, prep the cookie sheet. Take a cookie sheet and butter or grease it. In a bowl, mix equal parts powdered sugar and cornstarch. Cover the greased pan with this mixture and dump out the excess. Reserve the excess for later. (If you want thicker mallows, use a smaller pan, like a 9x13 glass pan)

Pour the marshmallow mixture onto the readied pan and smooth out with an offset spatula. Smooth the top the best you can, and work somewhat quickly. Once the mixture is smoothed out in the pan and reached all of the edges, sift the remaining powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture over the top. 

  Allow the pan to sit for at least 4 hours uncovered before cutting. Use a pizza wheel to cut the mallows into the desired size, or use a cookie cutter for cute cut-outs :) Toss the finished product in a bit more of the powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture and they are done!!

They are SO good in hot cocoa, but eating them plain is amazing too! If you wanted to flavor them with different types of extracts other than vanilla, experiment with that as well. Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!