Homemade Marshmallows

In my fascination with label reading I discovered that marshmallow's have blue food dye in them and some marshmallows even contain pork. Yucko, yucko, yucko! So what did I do…make our own! Off to the internet I went and found this easy recipe. Once you taste these you will never be content with an ordinary marshmallow again! These are gourmet! I can’t wait to use these to make homemade Caramello’s this holiday season!

Homemade Marshmallows

3 envelopes of gelatin
3/4 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar (we used organic cane sugar)
2/3 cups light corn syrup (we used homemade…yeah that’s for another post )
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tsp peppermint extract (optional for the holiday’s)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 T cornstarch

Lightly grease a 9 x 9-inch baking pan. If you have a flexible silicon pan, use it! If not, you can use any metal or glass pan. It’s just easier to remove the marshmallows from the silicon pan.

In a large mixing bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer if you have one), sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water and allow it to dissolve for about 5-10 minutes,

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a very hard boil and cook for one minute (no need for a candy thermometer). Make sure you stir it frequently, and be careful – this mixture is very hot! Make sure you cover for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Pour the boiling syrup on top of the gelatin and begin whisking on high. A stand mixer will make this job much easier though you can use a hand mixer. Just be aware it’s possible that you could burn up your mixer using it on high for this long!

Add the salt and whisk on high for about 10 minutes. At about 8 minutes in, begin dipping your finger into the mixture and dropping a small dollop on the counter to test how close it is to “done”. If you drop a dollop on the counter and within 30-60 seconds, it starts to firm up like you would imagine a marshmallow would, you can probably stop whipping. Ten minutes is usually enough; you can go as long as 12 if you’re unsure.

Allow the marshmallows to set until firm – usually about 4-5 hours. Once firm, combine 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 2 T cornstarch in a bowl. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the marshmallows into cubes. It helps prevent sticking if you dip your scissors in the powdered sugar mixture between each cut.

Toss each marshmallow in the powdered sugar mixture and that’s it – you’re done! Store in a semi-airtight container.

Wow! I guess that crazed look in his eye means he likes them!