As I mentioned in my last post, when I opened my professional grade Kitchenaid on Christmas morning all I could think about was making marshmallows! I had seen many recipes in the past few months, and in pretty much all of them I kept seeing the word “magic”. You may think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but believe me… it.is.not! With a few beyond simple ingredients and a few minutes ticking by you watch this clear syrupy stickiness into a thick, fluffy white confection. It is really amazing. A couple friends came over to help, and a couple minutes after the mixing started one mentioned how they weren’t going to stand and watch the whole time. About 30 seconds later, the magic started happening! And we did basically end up watching it the rest of the time. The mixture grows in volume and gets thick and white and shiny as the whisk does its job. The end result is (in my book) so much better than store bought mallows. These are fluffy and spongy and soft and airy and all together wonderful. I used vanilla that was called for it the recipe, but I will definitely be adapting this recipe with different extracts and flavors. Raspberry. Hazelnut. Caramel. Kahlua. Do you have suggestions of what else I should try?!
I found the recipe from pintest, but it said it was originally from Martha Stewart. There is a broad who knows what she’s doing!!!
Cooking spray
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin (3 TBSP plus 1 1/2 tsp)
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with vegetable spray. Line the pan with parchment paper and spray again. Sprinkle the parchment paper with confectioner sugar.
In a medium sauce pan combine the water, sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil over high heat while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, cook without stirring until the syrup reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer.
While that is cooking, add the gelatin into your mixing bowl and cover with 3/4 cup cold water. Let it soften for about 5 minutes. Next time I will probably let it sit a little longer and/or stir it a few times. Part of the gelatin clumped a bit and it made me nervous that it was going to throw off the whole process. Luckily, it didn’t matter. So, if that happens to you, no worries!
Attach the whisk better to your bowl and begin to mix the gelatin on low speed. Gradually pour in the hot syrup. Gradually raise the speed up to high. Beat until the mixture is very stiff; it will take about 12 minutes. The mixture will really increase in volume and become white a glossy. It’s just plain beautiful! Add in the vanilla and beat again until it is combined. Pour the fluff into your dish and let sit uncovered. I topped it with more powdered sugar after about half an hour. I let the fluff set over night. Cut the set marshmallows in squares. It helps to spray your knife with a little bit of cooking spray so that it doesn’t stick. (I actually didn’t have time to cut them in the morning, so I placed another layer of parchment paper on the top and covered it with the lid.)
Place powdered sugar in a bowl or bag and toss the marshmallow square in the sugar to completely cover. Store them in an airtight container (though they probably won’t last, too long!
Hang Onto your fork 