Building Blocks: Marshmallows

The Basics…

When you’re a kid you’re given the foundation to make a life for yourself. These include, but are not limited to: basic math, vocabulary, reading skills. Everything else will follow once you have these. When it comes to basics, I’m a little lacking. Sure I’m a very capable reader and writer, but give me math and you’re giving me death.

I know how to balance my checkbook, which in the big picture is a pretty good accomplishment since I know some people who don’t. But I am for sure one of those kids that needs a calculator at their fingertips to get things done. I even double-check my basic addition and subtraction, because lets face it, nothing is worse than second guessing your math skills. If I had grown up before hand held calculators were the norm, I know I would have been in some serious trouble. Not to mention, I don’t think that the abacus is as easy at it sounds, there has to be a trick question in there somewhere.

The first failure I had with math (and I have had many since) was in 3^rd grade. We were studying our multiplication tables as most 3^rd graders do. I was doing really well with the 1’s, 2’s, and 3’s. I worked on flashcards at home in my free time. I practiced and tried to memorize, but then the 4’s came around. For some reason the 4’s were the most difficult of them all. Everyone had moved on to 6’s and I was still stuck on 4’s. For my 3^rd grade mind it was unbelievably difficult and incredibly embarrassing (at 8 years old, most things are embarrassing). Somehow I got through to 5’s and 6’s, only to get stuck on 8’s (of course 4 is their root). So to say I excelled in basic math would be a flat out lie.

I did end up getting through it and passing 3^rd grade math, although I still struggle with my 4’s and 8’s when multiplying in my head. Then came calculus in high school. I tried really hard to understand it and do well in it. Not to mention I loved the bowling game I had on my TI-83 calculator, but calculus was not for me. Once again, not the highlight of my academic career, but I ended up passing.

In the same vein, I’m really good at algebra concepts. Give me back yard and I WANT to calculate its area. Show me a circle and I can’t help but figure out its circumference. Once again, further proof that I have a beyond nerdy side (luckily I’m well adjusted). Blame my background in landscape, but the reality is, for some reason, I just “get” it better than any other mathematical concept.

My set of basic skills is a little skewed.

My set of basic skills in the kitchen is a little skewed as well. I take the time to make these elaborate desserts and meals, but at the end of the day I still don’t know how to cook rice. (I know – such a bummer, it always burns.) However, I have mastered a basic skill that looks and seems difficult, but is in fact REALLY easy. So easy I’ve made them four times since I first attempted them.

Marshmallows may seem a little daunting. When you’re used to the preconceived notion of Jet Puffed or Campfire marshmallows – toss that idea out the window. I’m not going to lie, there’s something incredibly pleasurable about the outer staleness of a store bought marshmallow and the stringy, sticky inside that clings to the roof of your mouth and the grittiness of the sugar that sticks to your teeth.

According to Wikipedia, here’s the basic math on marshmallows:

“According to the National Confectioners Association, Americans spend more than $125 million annually for upwards of 90 million pounds of marshmallow, a mass equivalent to 1,286 gray whales.”

Now that’s a lot of S’mores. I got the idea to make my own marshmallows when I wanted to make a S’more Tart for my friend Nicole’s belated birthday present. If I was going to make her a special birthday treat, it was not going to be made with store bought marshmallows. That would just be too easy.

So I hit the books, or more accurately the World Wide Web and found a recipe.

Since developing my S’mores tart I’ve made four batches of these puppies. I’ve flavored them, I’ve unflavored them, I’ve dipped them in chocolate and no matter which way you look at them, they happen to be DELICIOUS! (Next I’m going to dye them!)

They’re still marshmallows, so they’re messy and sticky, BUT once you get the hang of them, they’re easy and rewarding. So we’re going to start with basic marshmallows and then in the next post we’ll hit up some S’mores pie.

Once you’ve got the foundation of marshmallows down, you’ll be able to conquer anything in the kitchen!

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:

1 cup – Cold water

3 envelopes + ½ tsp – Unflavored gelatin

2 cups – Sugar

2/3 cup – Light corn syrup

¼ tsp – Salt

2 tsp – Wonder Flavor or Vanilla Extract or any sort of flavoring

About 1 cup – Powdered Sugar (give or take)

Directions:

Line a 13”x9”x2” rectangular, metal pan with tin foil. Coat the tin foil with non-stick cooking spray.

Connect the whisk attachment to your mixer. In the bowl of your mixer pour ½ cup of cold water. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let it stand in the mixer until all the water is absorbed.

In a heavy, medium sized saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining ½ cup of cold water. Constantly stir the sugar mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. (It’s ready when the mixture starts to simmer.)

Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Make sure the tip of the thermometer doesn’t touch the bottom of the pan.

Increase the heat over the sugar mixture, bringing it to a boil. Do not stir the sugar once you’ve increased the heat. Keep an eye on the thermometer until the sugar mixture reaches the “soft ball” stage/240°F. (It takes about 8 minutes.)

Once it reaches the softball stage, turn your mixer on at low speed. Take the sugar mixture off the heat and slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatin mixture in a thin stream down the side of the bowl, while the mixer is running. (When the gelatin mixes with the hot syrup it smells kind of funny, but that’s normal.)

Gradually increase the mixer’s speed to high (I make 6 the top number on the Kitchen Aid). Beat the mixture until it’s thick and stiff, about 8 minutes after all the syrup has been added to the gelatin. The marshmallow should be pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Add the flavoring to the marshmallow mixture and beat to blend.

Carefully scrape the marshmallow into the prepared pan. Do it quickly, because the longer you wait the stringier and stickier the fluff gets. Smooth the top with a slightly wet spatula (run the spatula under warm water and dab it dry with a towel). Let the marshmallows stand uncovered until firm (at least four hours). I kept mine out for the night and they were fine. I wouldn’t keep them uncovered for a day, but 8 hours seemed fine.

To cut the marshmallows:

Sift powdered sugar onto a clean work surface (I covered my work surface with parchment paper and then sifted onto it since it is a little messy when it sticks to counter tops). The powdered sugar helps keep the marshmallows from sticking to everything. Dump the marshmallows onto the surface and peel off the foil. Sift powdered sugar onto the top of the marshmallows. Using a damp knife (same principal as the wet spatula), coat the knife with powdered sugar. (This helps with the cutting so it’s not a super sticky mess.) Cut the marshmallows into squares (as big or as small as you’d like). Once cut, make sure to coat the sides that are still sticky with a little powdered sugar. I like to bang them together to get the excess powdered sugar off of them. Make sure to store them in an airtight container/Tupperware of some sort.

To cover in chocolate:

Using a double boiler, melt about 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips. You’re going to have to scoop the chocolate onto the marshmallows with the help of a rubber spatula or spoon. Set the chocolate covered marshmallows on top of parchment paper until the chocolate sets. After the chocolate has set store them in an airtight container. If it’s hot, store them in the fridge so the chocolate doesn’t melt.

(My sister/kitchen assistant, Sissy Sifter (as we like to call her  - all her swashbuckling names sounds too porn star-y), had the brilliant idea to cover the marshmallows in chocolate for our Mom's birthday.  This part was her entirely her trial. It was her work that made them happen. Plus she was a fantastic helper and a great extra set of hands. She can wield a knife with the best of them!)

Wrap up and Substitutions:

At first I thought marshmallows were going to be scary and a level 10 on the trickiness scale. I was also nervous they would taste really processed and "fake", but this recipe is light, airy, and fantastically sweet. I don’t think I will ever purchase a store bought marshmallow again. I made a batch where I stuck them in foil lined heart molds and they were awesome! I accidentally forgot to add the flavoring in one batch, and while they weren’t as sweet, they were still tasty!

There are a couple things I’ve learned with the different trials and hopefully they help make yours a success:

- Go easy on the cooking spray when you are spraying the foil. If there’s too much spray they get a little greasy and too powdered sugary.

- It was hard to figure out how much gelatin to use. I used Knox's Unflavored Gelatin (and I have an entire box of little individual envelopes). Each Gelatin envelope is 1 TBSP/1 ounce, so I used three entire envelopes and a 1/2 teaspoon of the fourth. I went through a lot of experimentation trying to figure that out and it's the ratio that works best.

- Get wild with the flavors! Peppermint marshmallows sound fantastic (especially for the holidays)!

- You will waste a little powdered sugar. It’s hard knowing when to say when with it because you want to make sure the marshmallows are coated so they’re not super sticky, but you don’t want them caked in sugar where your mouth turns white from the excess. So really try to tap them together or against your cutting surface to get the extra off before you store them.

- These marshmallows crisp up awesomely under an open flame. I was worried as to how they were going to hold up when encountering fire, but they are fantastic!