Merry Ex-Mas!

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday, whatever it was that you celebrated. Coming back from a four day weekend is hard! But, I’m finally back in the swing of things, and have a chance to update the blog. I’m lucky enough to have had a great and mostly relaxing vacation. Spending most of my time in the kitchen at my parents house baking. I was very excited to try out a new-to-me recipe for marshmallows. I’ve never tried marshmallows before, and was slightly intimidated. I was inspired by Alexis Stewart of Whatever Radio who made the coconut version for Christmas. The original recipe is here on epicurious as was published in Gourmet (Dec 07).

They were so much easier than I though they would be, and tasted fabulous. I did however learn a few things. Sugar soaks back into them if you aren’t careful and you’ll end up with a sugary sticky mess. (Though it’s still a tasty mess). Mistakes were made, but learning and experimenting is half of the fun - the other half would of course be eating them. I made a coconut/vanilla batch, and a plain vanilla batch. The coconut ones are perfect for eating just as is, they are a great treat. The vanilla were dropped in hot cocoa!!

I kept a few of the plain ones as large squares and they filled up the whole top of the mug of cocoa. We enjoyed them on Christmas Night after dinner and presents. They were so sugary and melty and chocolaty and warm! I was very happy with them.

And in case you didn’t know all the images in 427theblog are hosted on flickr.com. You can click on them to be taken to the image page to see a larger version. You can also download hi-res images to use for wallpapers, or whatever. Enjoy! and Good Luck!

Marshmallow Base
enough for 64, 1″ cube, marshmallows

3 (1/4-ounces) envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup water, divided in half
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt

Flavoring
For the plainest of marshmallows you can leave the base as is. Otherwise you can add between 2~3 teaspoons of extract. Usually if you are going to flavor your base you will add 1~2 teaspoons of Vanilla, and then 1/2~1 teaspoon of coconut, or whatever flavor you want. I’ve listed a few that I’ve tried, or want to try.

- Vanilla
- Coconut
- Almond
- Orange Extract or Grand Marnier (Orange Liquor)
- Lemon
- Coffee or Espresso
- Peppermint

Sealant
When you prepare and cut your marshmallows you will need to “seal” them otherwise they will be sticky and get everywhere. Choose a sealant that compliments your flavorings.
You will need at least 2 cups of sealant for the setting process as well as dredging while you cut.

- Powdered Sugar is the classic sealant for plain marshmallows.
- Unsweetened dried coconut, toasted, is perfect for coconut flavored treats. To toast coconut, preheat your oven to 350°F with the rack in the middle. Spread the coconut on a large cookie sheet and bake for 7~10 minutes. Stirring every 1~2 minutes. Make sure to keep and eye on it. Don’t over-toast or you will burn it.
- Toasted almond slivers or other nuts might be wonderful too, though I haven’t tried that myself yet.
- Dunking them in chocolate would make something really decadent. Make sure to temper your chocolate if you are going to do this.

Lightly oil a 9×9 pan. Sprinkle about 1/2 a cup of sealant on the bottom to fully coat the pan. Set aside.

Bloom the gelatin by sprinkling it over 1/2 cup warm water in a metal mixer bowl, set aside.

Start the syrup. In a small saucepan place the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/2 cup water. Turn the heat to low, and stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved. You will be able to tell when the sugar crystals have dissipated when you scrap your spoon over the bottom or side of the pan and you no longer feel “grit.”

Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and turn the heat to medium. Place a candy thermometer on the side of the pan. Make sure that the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pan or you will get a false reading. Bring to boil without stirring. You can wash any sugar crystals down the side of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. (This is only needed if you have excess crystals, it’s not really the end of the world if you get a little bit.)

In a separate saucepan bring 1″ of water to a simmer.

Keep an eye on the sugar mixture - when it reaches 240°F (Usually labeled on your thermometer as “soft ball stage”) remove it from the heat and set aside.

Your gelatin should have hardened in the mixer bowl by this point, while your syrup is cooling slightly place the gelatin over the simmering water. With a fork break up the gelatin and melt. Once the mixture is liquid, place on the mixing stand. Using the whisk attachment, and starting on slow beginning to mix the gelatin.

VERY CAREFULLY and with a good grip, slowly stream the sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl. Once all the syrup is incorporated, turn the mixer to high (or almost high, I used 8 out of 10 on my Kitchen Aide). Beat the base until very thick, about 15 minutes. Add your extract or other flavoring and beat for 1 more minute.

Working quickly and using a large spatula turn out the marshmallow base onto the sealant in your oiled pan. Spread smooth, and top with 1/2 cup more of sealant. Let stand, uncovered, until firm. About 2 hours.

Run a sharp knife around the edge of the marshmallow block to loosen it, and turn it out on a cutting board. I use a cookie sheet for this part as it keeps my mess contained. Using the remaining cup of sealant (and more if needed) you are going to dredge each cut so that nothing gets too sticky.

To keep your marshmallows in uniform shapes, start by cutting the block in half, then quarters, etc. This works much better than trying to judge the measurements of approximately 1″ strips. When you make a cut dip the newly exposed marshmallow in the sealant. You should end up with about 64 marshmallows.

Once all your squares are complete, double check to make sure all the edges are dredged in sealant. When storing keep them separate, and the layers between parchment or wax paper. Another tip is to leave them exposed for a few more hours to help “dry” the sides. If you store them away to quickly the have a tendency to “soak up” the sealant and become sticky again. This is especially true for plain marshmallows with powered sugar sealant. I made this mistake and ended up with a new mass of sticky that I am going to half to re-cut.

Let me know if you make these, I would love to hear and see what you’ve done!

~ Mike