This month's Sugar High Friday is The Many Shades of White -- so I created a dessert that is quintessentially white: marshmallows. I decided to make this fluffy, pillow-like candy in two flavors, raspberry and champagne. Because I made them from scratch they were all natural and at least the raspberry ones were artificial flavoring and coloring free.
Basic Marshmallow Recipe
Ingredients:
2 Packets of Unflavored Gelatin (Very important: must be unflavored)
1/2 cup water
1 & 1/2 tsp flavoring oil or extract (In this case LorAnn Champagne flavor or McCormick Raspberry extract)
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
pinch of salt
1. Put 1/4 cup of water, gelatin, and one flavoring oil into standing mixer. Allow to sit for a few minutes so that the gelatin can "bloom."
2. In a large saucepan put the remaining water, corn syrup, sugar, and salt. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Bring to a boil without stirring. When the mix reaches the soft ball stage (234 - 240 degrees) remove from heat.
3. Pour sugar mixture into standing mixer. Bring mixer up to high. Allow this to mix for about 8 minutes.
4. Pour the now white mixture into an oiled deep pan. Allow to set for about 8 hours.
5. Cut into squares (or other shapes) with an oiled knife. Dip all sides of the marshmallows into corn starch to make them less sticky.
Some notes:
* I've used this recipe with lots of different flavorings, including mint, and orange. I find that flavoring oils seem to work the best. I've seen posted online recipes that call for using crushed candies in place of some of the sugar -- this would probably be a great thing to try.
* The type of pan you use to set the marshmallows will determine how big they are. A deep pan will mean thick marshmallows. A very wide pan could mean very thin ones.
* If you have a standing mixer and candy thermometer, this is one of the easiest recipes in the world. If you don't have those things it can be kind of tricky. I have made them without both pieces of equipment, it just means being really careful at the stove and then standing around for a long time with a hand-mixer. It can definitely be done.
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2 comments:
Something about marshmallows that just make people happy!
The idea of it is sending my memories swirling - just too bad I don't eat gelatin.
I'd love to try a vegetarian version of your flavors - so delightful!
Dayna's right, there is something homey and comforting and altogethe blissful about marshmallows. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of this month's SHF!
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