Marshmallows

Marshmallows are one of my favorite treats, chocolate covered or on their own I just love them. To be completely honest anything made with marshmallows are okay by me. It's probably why S'Mores are one of my favorite desserts ever and why hot chocolate is better than coffee to me.

I have been wanting to make homemade marshmallows for a long time but have always felt intimidated by the thought of it. I have looked up the recipe dozens of time before actually making them and just leaving it as I'll try it another day. Maybe it was the fact that I have recently started blogging or maybe I just got over my fear or making them from scratch but I decided to take the plunge and let me tell you, it wasn't half bad at all. Plus it's a check off of my 100 recipes of things I want to make, not too bad at all.

There are quite a few steps involved, but they're all very easy and doable. I would however recommend a cooking buddy to man one of your stations, because in order to make homemade marshmallows you need to have three different things going at once. I did it alone and they still came out delicious but it would have been easier if I had someone watching over the stove while I ran the other two tasks. I also recommend reading the recipe thoroughly before setting out to making them and make sure every ingredient you need is close by. This is definitely a time sensitive recipe and you dont want to be held up rereading directions or looking for an ingredient last minute. I found a ton of recipes but ultimately went with the one Brown Eyed Baker posted on her website which she adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours.

For a first try they came out delicious, next time I will be attempting to make chocolate marshmallows and see how those come out.


Homemade Marshmallows
Yield: 1 pound
Prep Time: 25 minutes     I     Inactive Prep Time: 3 hours

Ingredients

• 1 cup of corn starch
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 2 packets unflavored gelatin
• 3 large egg whites at room temperature
• 3/4 cup cold water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup, plus 1 tbs sugar

I started off by assembling all of my pre-measured ingredients and setting up my various stations. I got my saucepans, mixing bowls and Kitchen Aid ready to go and then lined a 9x13 glass baking dish with parchment paper and dusted it generously with corn starch.

Next put 1/3 cup of water, 1 1/4 cup of sugar and the corn syrup in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture until it comes to a boil stirring constantly. Once the sugar dissolves stop stirring and monitor the temperature with your candy thermometer. The mixture must be 265F, which took approximately 10 minutes.

While the syrup is cooking put the remaining cold water (7 tablespoons) and sprinkle both gelatin packets on top. Let this mixture sit for approximately 5 minutes until it has a spongy appearance. Place the mixture in the microwave and heat for 20 seconds until the mixture has been liquefied. 

Moving onto your stand mixture beat the egg whites using the whisk attachment on medium speed until the whites are firm but still glossy. Watch carefully so as to not over beat them.

Once the syrup hits 265 degrees, remove it from the heat immediately and begin adding the syrup to the egg whites. Keep the speed on medium and pour it in between the whisks and the side of the bowl. Next add the gelatin mixture and vanilla and beat everything for another 3 minutes until all of the ingredients are all incorporated. 

Scrape the marshmallow mixture into your baking pan using a well greased rubber spatula. Start in the middle and spread out to the edges smoothing it so it is distributed evenly. Dust the top of the marshmallow with some cornstarch and allow the mixture to cool for about 3 hours.

Once the marshmallows are cool and slightly firm to the touch remove from the pan and place on your countertop or a large cutting board. I sprayed a pizza cutter with cooking spray and used that to cut the marshmallows into 1 inch squares. Place the remaining corn starch in a bowl and roll each marshmallow so they are fully coated, shake off any excess corn starch and put them in whatever serving bowl you are using.

The marshmallows will keep for approximately 1 week, keep them in a cool dry place and be sure not to cover them entirely so moisture doesn't build up.