Homemade Marshmallows

Homemade Marshmallows

These were so easy to make.  When you read the post, she makes it sound so hard, but I didn’t have any problems at all.  So I am going to repost the recipe here and interject my comments.

Springy, Fluffy Marshmallows
Adapted from Gourmet, December 1998

Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows (If you can cut them that small.  I couldn’t, so mine were much, much larger.)

About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin (I used 3 envelopes and it worked fine)
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)

(I got all my ingredients measured out and ready to go so I wasn’t scrambling)

Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.

In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften. (I used my big mixer – Bosch - for this part.  I have a smaller hand mixer, and I used it later so that I wasn’t washing bowls and beaters mid recipe.)

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing or a hand-held electric mixer (again, I used my big mixer) beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer. (Some reviewers felt this took even longer with a hand mixer, but still eventually whipped up nicely.)

(While the big mixer is going, do this next part.) In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters (I used my hand mixer here) beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks.

Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. (I poured the sugar/gelatin mixture into the egg whites and mixed together.  Make sure your bowl is big enough to do this.) Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out. Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) (Skip the oil, just use cold water.  Run the pizza cutter under the cold water, then shake off the excess water.  You can cut 2-3 rows before you will need to run it under the water again.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away. (I put the powdered sugar into a Ziploc bag and shook the marshmallows in batches.  Much cleaner for me!)

So that’s it!  Cleanup was a breeze, just lots of hot water!  I am going to make them again, and instead of hardening them, I am going to add melted butter and pour them right onto rice krispies to make treats!  So much fun!  If you do this, I would love to hear how it worked out for you.