Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Marshmallows!

For all of you who asked, here's my marshmallow recipe:
Combine 4 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups water, cook until candy thermometer reaches 238 degrees (long thread stage). Meanwhile, soak 4 tablespoons (or 4 packets) plain gelatin in 1 cup water for ten minutes. Pour hot syrup over the gelatin mixture. Beat with electric mixer until cool. This part takes for*ever.* I use my stand mixer and turn it on for a few minutes, then let it rest for a few minutes until the mixture is completely cool and fluffy.
Line an 11x13 baking dish with parchment paper, butter the paper and sides of the pan, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Pour the candy into the pan and let it sit overnight. Cut into squares using scissors. Roll marshmallows in more powdered sugar. These are really best within the first three days or so. Still tasty afterward, but the powdered sugar coating gets a little crispy and the marshmallows get mushy.
Here's a link to the spot where I found it originally.

There are lots of things you can do to flavor these. I used my homemade vanilla extract from Christmas - rum & vanilla beans. I've heard that you could use lemon juice instead of water to soak the gelatin. Just about any flavoring & a bit of coloring could give you lots of different, fun results. I have added orange extract & peppermint extract before, both with great success.

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