There is something fun about marshmallows. They add a little "happy" to campfires, hot chocolate and rocky road ice cream. I have been wondering for some time, if it was easy to make homemade marshmallows. If it was, wouldn't those s'mores and cups of cocoa taste so much better? I see recipes and photos of pretty, fluffy white marshmallows and imagine the mess it must take to create one perfect batch. So I decided to try it myself. I found a recipe over at Smitten Kitchen and it looked like a good one, so I went for it, and it really was easy. There are a few steps involved but they are not difficult and the result was well worth the time it took. The best part was the taste. They were delicious!
You start by heating the sugar, corn syrup, water and salt.
You will need a candy thermometer to make marshmallows. You have to boil the mixture until the thermometer reaches 240 degrees.
The hot mixture gets added to a bowl of dissolved gelatin and is whipped with an electric mixer until it triples in size and is very thick and white.
You will beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. *TIP* I had my hot mixture whipping in the electric standing mixer while I beat the egg whites with a hand-mixer in a separate bowl. You could also do one at a time but I wanted to move a little faster.
You will beat the egg whites, sugar mixture and vanilla until combined.
When the marshmallow is mixed, it gets poured into a 13 x 9 pan that has been greased and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
The marshmallow has to be chilled for a few hours or overnight before it can be cut.
Once the marshmallow is chilled, it can be inverted onto a cutting board that has been dusted with confectioner's sugar.
If you are going to use cookie cutters to make marshmallow shapes, you will want to dip them in confectioner's sugar before each cut to avoid sticking.
Cut your marshmallow into desired shapes.
Once the shapes were cut, I dusted the marshmallows with confectioner's sugar to keep them from sticking (and because it looked pretty).
I decided to make marshmallow snowflakes. Most of them came out great. You can see how light and fluffy they are. Use your favorite cookie cutters or use a sharp, thin knife to cut squares. There were a lot of pieces left over once I cut out the shapes. I cut them into small pieces with kitchen scissors that were dipped in confectioner's sugar.
I am so glad I decided to try this recipe. It was a lot of fun and really easy to do. I will not hesitate to make my own batch whenever I need some marshmallows in a recipe or on a dessert bar. They really are that easy!
Have fun!
Leslie xo
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 3 1/2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1 cup cold water divided
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg whites
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- Grease bottom and sides of a metal 13 x 9 pan and dust with confectioner's sugar.
- In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water and let stand to soften.
- In a 3 quart heavy saucepan, cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, 2nd 1/2 cup of water and salt on low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
- Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240 degrees Fahrenheit, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
- With standing or hand-held electric mixer, beat mixture on high speed until white, thick and nearly tripled in volume, about 6 minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer.
- In separate medium bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.
- Beat egg whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined.
- Pour mixture into baking pan.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar evenly over top.
- Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least 3 hours, and up to one day.
- Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board.
- With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut into squares or cut with cookie cutters dipped in confectioner's sugar.
- Toss marshmallows in remaining confectioner's sugar and put in storage bags or containers.