Monday, December 1, 2008

Marshmallows


Every year around the holidays I make several batches of marshmallows.  Sure I could buy them at fancy shmancy food stores for a buck a piece, but why do that when they are fun, quick and inexpensive to make.  And they taste much better fresh.  To keep it a special treat I only make them in December. . . mostly.  

All you need is:

1/2 cup water
3 Tbs. Knox gelatin 
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbs. vanilla
powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:


Prepare a 9X13 pan by rubbing down with butter and sprinkling it with powdered sugar.


In the mixer add the gelatin to 1/2 cup of water and allow to bloom for ten minutes.

In a saucepan combine 1/4 cup of water, the sugar and corn syrup and bring to a boil.


Continue to boil until the temperature reaches 250 degrees F (hard ball stage).


Running mixer on low, drizzle the boiling sugar mixture into the gelatin mixture.  Turn up speed and add salt.


Mix on high until volume stops increasing (about ten minutes).



Add a tablespoon of vanilla.


Pour into prepared pan and smooth the best you can--it will stick to your spatula, buttering it will help.  It won't be great but that's okay.  Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and keep smoothing with your hands.


Allow to set, on counter, for several hours, or overnight.

Cut into squares, powdering the sides with powdered sugar to prevent sticking.


Store in air tight container. Or eat immediately in a large mug of hot chocolate.  My favorite is Stephan's Hot Chocolate.  I also like to give these as a neighbor gift and sometimes make homemade hot chocolate mix to go with it.

3 comments:

Vanessa said...

Ah ha! I was right!

Lee Ann said...

Hi Jenn! I'm a friend of Shannon's. I've wanted to make marshmallows for several years. I saw Martha Stewart do it once and she cut them out with snowflake cookie cutters. Looked like so much fun.

So I just made them.....with my two year old daughter. Can you say huge mess? I kept thinking, "I wish someone could take our picture right now". I was laughing hard! All in all they turned out great! (Well they're still sitting in the pan, but we had plenty to lick out of the bowl.) I had a hard time getting it out of the bowl. And I have it stuck on every surface of my kitchen :-) As I'm writing this I'm thinkin'.....Oh, it sounds like I'm writing this to tell her this was miserable. It wasn't! It was just funny. I think the moral of the story for me is to make these when two year old is napping!

Have a great day and keep posting those yummy recipes!

Megan is Chuck. Chuck is Megan. said...

So I made these yummy marshmallows along with my own version of hot chocolate and I've been giving them out as Christmas presents and everybody LOVES them! So funny to tell people that you made "homemade marshmallows". I'm starting to love saying it just to see their reactions.
Thanks for the recipe!