It’s holiday season, so home baking is in full swing. If ever there was a time to give an edible gift, it is now. Unfortunately that applies to everyone, so while you may be inclined to bust out the cookie cutters and knock out some gingerbread men, you won’t be the only one (put them over there with the other ones, Griswold!).
Fortunately you have other options: toffee, nut brittles, jams, fudge, but my personal favorite go-to-treat is homemade marshmallows. They’re really quite simple (and fun) to make, dead cheap and are about 1 million times better than that 3 year old bag of Jet-Puffed you have sitting in the back of your pantry.
Needs:
1 cup (8oz) cold water
1.5 cups granulated sugar (I prefer cane sugar but beet sugar will work)
1 cup (8oz) corn syrup (yes, the dreaded stuff everyone fears)
3 packets gelatin(e)
Confectioner’s (powdered) sugar for dusting
Sauce pan
Candy thermometer
Stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment
Knife/Pizza cutter
Baking dish for molding
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| Ingriedients |
Add ½ of the water (4oz) plus the 3 packets of gelatin to the bowl of the mixer. This will ‘bloom’ the gelatin.
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| "Blooming" Gelatin |
Add the remaining water, sugar and corn syrup to a sauce pan with a candy thermometer clipped on the pan. Bring this to a boil and let reach a temperate of 240 degrees. This is the ‘soft ball’ stage of candy making.
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| Heat Water, Sugar, and Corn Syrup to 240 Degrees. |
Turn the mixer on low speed and gradually add the sugar syrup to the bloomed gelatin. Be VERY careful and stream the syrup down the side of the mixer bowl. Hot syrup hitting an active whisk will A) make a mess and B) burn like hell. Once all the syrup is added, turn the mixer on full speed and let go for a full 12 minutes. The idea is to whip air into the mixture while it cools and the gelatin sets. Your mixer will likely phase in and out, that’s just an internal safety to keep it from overheating, it’ll be okay.
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| Mix Syrup Mixture with Gelatin |
After 12 minutes of you will have an enormous bowl full of white, fluffy, STICKY marshmallow. I cannot overemphasize just how sticky it will be.
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| 12 Minutes of Mixing = Marshmallows |
You’ll want to turn the mixture out (use a silicone spatula if you have one) into a dish sprinkled with powdered sugar. Work quickly and form it into a single, even layer of marshmallow. The longer it sits the less pliable it becomes, so do this right away. Dust the top with more powdered sugar.
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| Fresh Marshmallows Setting Up |
After a few hours you can begin cutting the individual marshmallows. This is best done with a sharp, thin blade (I use a carving knife but a pizza cutter would work as well). The marshmallows will not cut apart, but more so they will be perforated and you can pull them apart. Make them as big or small as you care to, they make the best s’mores ever if made large. Coat each individually with powdered sugar and keep in an air tight bag/canister. They’ll keep for a while but are best fresh, plus they are awesome and you’ll just want to eat them all right away.
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| The Finished Product |
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