Marshmallow Squares

Fluffy, soft and gooey marshmallows…. They are way too good! I had my very first homemade marshmallow in a restaurant in Monterey, Passionfish. It was lightly toasted served with sweet and tangy balsamic strawberries. The marshmallow was so soft, which was nothing like the regular round ones that came out of a bag. Ever since then, I always want to make my own.

With my new mixer, marshmallows were the first thing I made. They were very soft and delicious. I can’t wait to put some in a cup of hot chocolate. Once you have some homemade marshmallows, you can turn them into anything. This Halloween, I will be giving out these marshmallow lollipops. Hope the kids will like them.

Marshmallow Squares (Adapted from Alton Brown via Foodnetwork.com)

About 48 squares

Ingredients:

–   12 ounce sugar

–   1 cup light corn syrup

–   1 cup ice cold water (divided into two ½-cup)

–   ½ – 1 cup powdered sugar

–   3 (0.25-ounce) packages unflavored gelatin

–   1 teaspoon vanilla extract

–   ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

–   nonstick cooking spray

–   chocolate candy coating (optional)

–   orange nonpareils candy sprinkles (optional)

–   6-inch lollipop sticks (optional)

Directions:

1. In a stand mixer bowl or large mixing bowl, place in the gelatin and ½ cup of water. Prepare the mixer with a whisk attachment.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the regular sugar, corn syrup, ½ cup water, and salt. Cook over medium-high heat with lid on for 2 minutes. Remove the lid. Attach a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan. Continue to cook until the sugar mixture has reached 240˚F, about 7 – 8 minutes. Remove from heat immediately.
3. Mix the gelatin mixture quickly. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour the sugar mixture down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once all sugar mixture has been added, increase the mixer to high speed. Whip until the mixture turns very thick and is lukewarm, about 12 – 15 minutes. Add the vanilla extract at the last minute of whipping.
4. Meanwhile, in a 9 x 13-inch metal baking pan, lightly grease it with nonstick cooking spray. Use a paper towel to wipe the pan to remove extra oil. Dust the pan with powdered sugar very generously to cover. Set aside.
5. When the marshmallow mixture is ready, quickly transfer to the prepared pan with a spatula. Spread the mixture evenly. Dust with more powdered sugar to cover. Let the marshmallows to rest at room temperature uncover for at least 6 hours, best for overnight.
6. Prepare a cutting board lightly cover with powdered sugar. Run a thin knife around the edges between the marshmallow and the pan. Turn the marshmallows out onto the cutting board. Using a large sharp knife, cut down firmly into the marshmallow and make 1-inch squares or desired shapes. Cover all sides of the marshmallow squares with powdered sugar until not sticky.
7. For storage, keep the marshmallows in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.
8. To make Halloween chocolate covered marshmallows, insert the lollipop sticks into marshmallow squares. Melt the chocolate candy coating as directed on the package and dip each marshmallows into the chocolate. Decorate with the orange sprinkles. Stand them on a lollipop rack or packing foam to dry. Once the chocolate has dried, they are ready to serve.

Tips:

1. Be very generous with the powdered sugar. It is better to have more than less. You can always dust off the extra powdered sugar at the end. It was painful to watch when the marshmallows stuck to the pan.
2. These may be a lot of marshmallows, but try not to cut the recipe down. Just give them away to friends and co-workers. It is harder to control the sugar mixture temperature when there isn’t that much liquid. I tried it once, and the marshmallow turned out really hard and very sticky.

Source: Read