Homemade Marshmallows

HOMEMADE MARSHMALLOWS
[adapted from Smitten Kitchen]


I wrapped about 5 of these up in some bags (bought 20 @ target for a buck in the bargan area) and had enough to give to each of my 15 co-workers, a large jar for my grandmother and 3 extra bags!

INGREDIENTS:

Medium bowl of powdered sugar (for dusting and coating the pan)

3 ½ envelopes (2 TABLEspoons plus 2 ½ TEAspoons) unflavored gelatin

½ cup light corn syrup

½ cup cold water

Another ½ cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

¼ TEAspoon salt

1 TABLEspoon vanilla extract*

2 large egg whites

DIRECTIONS:

Oil a pan (19x9)

Dust pan with powdered sugar

In a large bowl, sprinkle** gelatin over ½ cup cold water and let stand.

 

In a 3 quart saucepan (I usually eyeball it and pick my best pan), cook corn syrup, other ½ cup cold water, ¼ teaspoon salt over low heat, stirring in granulated sugar with a wooden spoon until dissolved. (it is dissolved when you can’t feel clumps of sugar anymore)

Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture WITHOUT stirring

Until a digital or candy thermometer registers 240 degrees F (about 12 minutes)***

Remove from heat

Pour over gelatin mixture

Stir (or beat with mixer) until gelatin is dissolved

Beat on high speed till white, tick and nearly tripled in volume (10 minutes, maybe more)

In a separate bowl, beat egg whites (with the whisk attachment) till they just hold stiff peaks.

Combine egg whites and vanilla with the sugar/ gelatin mixture till just combined.

By now my mixture was so stiff and fluffy that the bowl would spin with the mixer if I didn’t hold it still.

Pour complete mixture into oiled and powdered pan

DO NOT SCRAPE THE BOWL (it will stick to you and make a huge mess)

IF YOU WANT COLOR: drop a few drops of food coloring every few inches on the top of the mixture and use a fork to spread it around in designs

Sift a bit of powdered sugar over the top (I no longer have a sifter and had to sprinkle with my hands)

Chill uncovered, until firm (at least 3 hours, up to 1 day)

Run a thin knife around edges and flop onto a large surface (I covered my coffee table with aluminum foil for this).

Life up one corner of the pan, loosen marshmallow with fingers.

Trim edges (which may be crunchy and rather undesirable) and shape into cubes.

Roll newly shaped marshmallows in powdered sugar, shake off and pack.

They will keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 1 week.

*The first time I ever made this recipe (2 days ago) I ran out of vanilla extract. I could barely squeeze a few drops out. After asking Google I decided to add some (off brand) maple syrup to taste. You can taste the difference. But they were still might tasty.

** The first time I made this recipe, my husband was helping (THANK YOU KEVIN!). However, he did not sprinkle. He just dumped. It did not look good. It was clumpy and nasty looking and I searched online for at least 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do (I couldn’t do it over, as I only bought one box of gelatin and there are only 4 packets in each box). In the end, I went on with the recipe and (thankfully!) it came together with just a bit of prompting from my hand mixer.


*** perhaps it is because my digital thermometer is broken and I don’t own a candy thermometer but I couldn’t get my boiling sugar mixture over 120 degrees F. I just boiled it for the 12 minutes (and then about 3 minutes more, just for good measure) before moving on.