Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Homemade Marshmallows

We had our first dusting of snow yesterday. Perfect for trying out my homemade marshmallows! So many of you were curious about them in the giveaway post, I decided to share how I made them.

I used Martha Stewart's recipe, which is basically adding sugar to corn syrup, and bringing it to the soft ball stage. Combine with gelatin and beat the heck out of it. A candy thermometer and a stand mixer make this part really easy.


What's not easy is getting the marshmallow goo out of the whisk and mixing bowl (above) and onto the cookie sheet (below)! Spread it thick, so you have plump marshmallows. When this task was done, I had marshmallow goo in a lot of places. Tip: Once you've been victorious in this battle, use really hot water for cleanup. (I put the kettle on for boiling water.) The heat helps soften/dissolve the stickiness.

Let this sit overnight. It will still be spongy and stringy in the morning, but that's OK. When ready, you can cut into desired shapes. I started out being cute with these round shapes, but shortly after this photo, I switched to using a pizza cutter and made larger squares. Much faster and less waste. When you're done cutting, dust them with powdered sugar so they don't stick together.

Ta-da! These taste really, really good. I was sugared up yesterday, for sure!

7 comments:

parTea lady said...

I've never tried making marshmallows. Thanks for the interesting post and the recipe.

Lisa said...

I tried making marshmallows once. It was in a mystery contest thingy that FamilyFun was hosting. It was a gooey mess, but tasted so good! :)

I quickly decided after that though to bow down to anyone brave enough to make homemade marshmallows more than one time!

I love your little tiny treats, Steph. They are great! :)

Marlena said...

Gosh, they look really good and they are making me hungry! Thanks for the note about Ava Rose

Rosemary said...

What fun! Love the gooey-sticky mess in *your* kitchen! I made marshmallows years and years ago in a candy-making class at Maid of Scandinavia. Still have the recipe, just not the gumption to make them. Perhaps...

Marilyn Miller said...

You make it look not too difficult. I have saved recipes for years and keep thinking I will try them. I really must do it.

massagematters said...

Wow! I am impressed...how did they taste?

Beth Uhrich said...

You can get round marshmallows by piping strings of your warm marshmallow onto your confectioner's sugar (or a 50/50 mix with cornstarch). Then cut the logs into your mini marshmallows.