homemade marshmallows

Have you ever had a homemade marshmallow?  Well, you should, and as soon as you can.  Homemade versus store bought marshmallows are like homemade vs. store cookies.  Or spaghetti sauce. Or cupcakes.  You get the idea.  Homemade marshmallows are so superior to those ones you get in a bag at the supermarket that they shouldn’t even have the same name.  These are light and fluffy, and taste like food, not chemicals. They seem indulgent, but are easy to make.  You can use cookie cutters to make shapes, food coloring to make different colors.  You can make almost any flavor you can think of.  Just realize that adding something with weight (like the chocolate) will decrease their size.  There are lots of recipes for marshmallows.  I like this one, because it uses honey instead of corn syrup. These will last about a week.

vanilla bean marshmallows

ingredients

• 3 envelopes( or 3 tbl.) unflavored gelatin
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 large vanillla bean, split open and scraped
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Put 1 cup of cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it to bloom, about 5 minutes.  In a large pot with a candy thermometer attached, combine sugar, honey and 1/2 cup water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep from boiling over, until mixture reaches 240°.  While sugar mixture cooks on the stove, whisk egg whites and salt until soft peaks begin to form.  If you keep the mixer on the medium setting, your sugar mixture and eggs should be ready at the same time.  If eggs are ready first, just turn mixer down to stir setting until sugar is ready.  If sugar mixture is ready first, you can keep it on the stove over low heat.  Be careful not to let mixture get any hotter than 240°.(If it goes over 250°, you havereached the “hard boil” stage and it won’t work anymore.)

When eggs and sugar mixture are both ready, carefully pour sugar mixture into mixer.  Turn mixer to high, wait a minute to cool, then add gelatin, vanilla extract, and inside of vanilla bean.  Continue to whisk on high until marshmallow reaches almost the top of the mixing bowl.  This should take 5-10 minutes.  While you are waiting, spray a 9×13 pan very lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix cornstarch and powdered sugar in a small bowl, then coat the bottom and sides of the oiled pan.Do your spraying and sugaring over the sink.  It’s a mess.  Bang your pan against the inside of the sink a few times to tap out the excess cornstarch/sugar.  Save the remaining cornstarch/sugar.

When the marshmallow is ready, pour into the pan, and use a plastic spatula to smooth the top.  Let set at room temperature overnight(or at least 4 hours).  Run a knife around the edge of the marshmallow pan.  Sprinkle cornstarch/sugar onto a cutting board and invert marshmallow pan onto it.  Tap it a few times to release the marshmallow.  Use food scissors or a knife to cut marshmallow to desired size.  Put the last of the cornstarch/sugar mixture into a plastic bag.  Put cut marshmallows into the bag.  Shake to coat.  Tap off excess sugar and place marshmallows on a wire rack for an hour to dry a little.  Store in an airtight container for up to a month.(Do not store in a ziploc bag.  This makes the marshmallows “sweat’.)

peppermint

Skip the vanilla bean, decrease vanilla extract to 1 tsp. and add 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract and 1 drop red food coloring.

gingerbread

skip the vanilla bean and vanilla extract.  Into the sugar mixture on the stove, add

• 1/2 cup molasses
•  1 &1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 &1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

these will take a little longer to fluff up, 10-15 minutes

chocolate

Skip the vanilla bean, decrease vanilla extract to 1 tsp.  Over a double boiler, mix together until melted

• 3 0z. semisweet chocolate
• 2&1/2 tbl. cocoa powder

Add melted chocolate to marshmallow mixture after you add the gelatin.  These will take about 20 minutes on high speed to mix, and they won’t be as fluffy.  Instead of using a powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture, replace powdered sugar with equal amount of cocoa powder.