This week I had a totally horrible, freak thumb accident, and having to retype this is horribly ironic to me. I almost cut my thumb off washing a very sharp knife. Well, cut it off may be a bit dramatic, but 'tis the season, right? Anyway, lost of lot of blood and went through a lot of band aids the last few days. And it hurts. Now let's talk marshmallows!
I am obsessed with homemade marshmallows and why wouldn't I be? They are soft, squishy and taste like a little bit of heaven, not anything like their jet-puffed twice-removed cousins from the grocery store. Come join me in marshmallow heaven.........
Note to Jenn- Don't worry, I don't think this counts as plagiarism, it has been modified.
Marshmallows
2 cups sugar, you can use superfine or regular
1 cup water divided
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
3 packets of gelatin
1 tsp extract. Want to impress your friends? Use Vanilla Bean paste for the incredible specks of vanilla beans that will be in your finished marshmallows.
2 beaten egg whites
In a large saucepan, bring the 2 cups of sugar, corn syrup, salt and 1/2 cup of the water to a boil and continue boiling until the temp reaches 240. Soft crack, soft ball, crack is whack stage, something like that, I forget what it's called. 240 just remember that.
In a Kitchen Aid mixer (hello product placement) add the 3 packets of gelatin and the other 1/2 cup water. Let bloom. The gelatin will suck up the water and be easier to mix in the with the sugar mixture. 5 minutes should be good.
Add the 240 degree sugar mixture to the gelatin mixture and mix until the gelatin is thoroughly dissolved. Now you can start mixing and start mixing on high! You want to incorporate as much air into this as possible and it is not possible on a low setting. You want to mix this until it is about tripled in size and you just want to stick your finger in and taste. It is very important that you don't stick your finger in as the mixture is still very, very hot. Self restraint is what's called for here.
When it's about done, put your 1 tsp of extract in the mixture and beat for another 45 to 60 seconds. You can also add coloring at the point as well. This is now the point you want to add in the beaten egg whites (I like to beat mine pretty firm, firm enough so you can tip the bowl upside down over your head and you don't bat an eyelash. I also am not very careful when mixing this in, I don't fold, rather I mix like mad until it is all incorporated.)
Pour out into an 8 x 8 greased nonstick baking pan (my favorite size- you can use whatever you like, but for all that is holy- grease the pan!) Slam the pan on the counter a few times to get rid of the annoying air bubbles, cover with plastic wrap, or don't, and wait. I usually wait til the next day to get these out, but you are probably OK after about 6-8 hours. Most people like to dust the pan and thr top of the marshmallows with sifted potato starch or powdered sugar at this point- I find it just makes them a bit 'crusty'. I prefer just to use the non-stick spray, but it's your call.
Blooming gelatin
When the time is right, get a large cutting board covered in powdered sugar, a serrated knife and all the patience you can muster. Slowly pull the marshmallow mixture from the sides of the pan- it will come out- but you need to do this slowly so it doesn't tear. Put this big hunk on the cutting board, cover both sides with the powdered sugar and start cutting.
Maple Marshmallows
Same as above, but substitute 1/2 cup maple syrup for the corn syrup in the first step. If you like maple, you will die they are so good.
To see some awesome marshmallow pictures, please see Jenn's previous blog post as I didn't have anything recent to post.
-Jenny
Hi Jenny, thanks so much for the crimmus treats! You are truly some sort of food magician, and John is a remarkably lucky man. Thanks again and have a happy holiday season!
ReplyDelete-Melissa@Electra