52 Recipes in 52 Weeks: Week 2

First off, I would like to apologize for the extreme delay in posting this. I guess it was really supposed to be last week's recipe and, while I did actually make it last week, I was a little behind in the creative writing department. 

Don't judge. It's been a busy week. 

Anyway, Week 2 in my New Year's Self-Challenge was a particularly fun one! 

I've seen a huge upswing in people making their own marshmallows and I have always wanted to try it myself, but haven't been that excited about making a huge sticky mess in our teeny tiny kitchen. I did a lot of research on this one though and found out that it's much easier than it would seem. And everyone ensured there would be no sticky mess. So, I womaned up and dove in. 

I found this delicious recipe, courtesy of MyBakingAddiction.com. Now, bear in mind, hers are much prettier and probably taste better, but, so far, no one has complained about their looks. Or taste, for that matter. 

I think I used a little more vanilla than I was supposed to, but they turned out really great! I will admit that I still like the bag kind, but homemade marshmallows are definitely better. I have yet to try them in S'mores or for anything other than eating by the bagful, but I'm excited to see how they taste with chocolate and graham cracker goodness surrounding them! 

I've also decided that I need to attempt bourbon marshmallows next. Anyway, enjoy! 

Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows

1/2 cup water
3 (.25 ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup water (yes, I'm aware it's on here twice...go with it!)
2/3 cup corn syrup
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon (or however much you feel like...) vanilla extract
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup powdered sugar

First off, you'll want to take that 1/2 cup of water and put it in your stand mixer and sprinkle the gelatin on top so that it can soak. I don't know how long it's supposed to soak or what consistency it's supposed to be before you combine the other ingredients to it, but I do know that it looked really weird and I had to stir in the gelatin a little so that all of it got soaked properly. 

While that's turning into really plain jello, take your 1/4 cup of water (see, told you it was necessary), corn syrup and sugar and pour them into a large saucepan. You'll want to stir this while it reaches the boiling point. Once it gets going, let it boil for one whole minute. 

Pour the super hot mixture into your gelatin glob and, with the whisk attachment on your mixer, turn that sucker on high. You're gonna let this do its thing for about 12 minutes, so set that timer and let's prepare your pan.

The original recipe said to use a 9 x 9 pan, and you totally can; I did. However, if you would like thinner marshmallows, you may use a 13 x 9 pan, which is what I wish I had done. No matter, they turned out great, but I would have enjoyed thinner ones. Anywhoski, take your pan and line it with plastic wrap. I actually got the metal pan wet first so that the wrap would stick, but if you have a ceramic or glass dish, you should be fine. Then, spray the mess out of that plastic wrap with a non-stick spray. Here's a tip: don't use the butter flavored one. Your marshmallows will have a slight yellow tint to them. Oops. 

When your timer brings you back to reality and you have whipped the mess out of the marshmallow mixture, it's time to add your vanilla. If you would like to preserve the crisp white look of your marshmallows, use clear vanilla (in addition to avoiding the previously mentioned yellow spray crap). If you want to try different flavors, feel free to substitute. I'm gonna do that with the bourbon next time. 

Mix it in, periodically scraping the sides of your bowl with a well-oiled spatula; you want to make sure the vanilla is all mixed in and mine kept splashing up on the sides and chillin' there. 

Once you've mixed it enough so that it forms stiff peaks (much like whipped cream but WAY thicker), you can pour it into your pan. With the aforementioned spatula, still well-oiled, pat it down so that it is flat, much like you do with rice krispie treats, but a lot less hard. 

Take another sheet of plastic wrap that has also been sprayed to death, cover your pan completely, and use your hand to pat it onto the surface of your marshmallows so that a seal is formed. 

And now we wait. 

For 4 hours.

Or overnight, if you started this at 10:30 at night and have to get up for work the next day...not that I did that or anything.

Once it has congealed sufficiently, oil up your knife or scissors and get cutting. You can use cookie cutters to make them into shapes. You can do whatever you want at this point...go bananas! 

You'll notice that the edges are sticky. You don't want that. Here's where your cornstarch and powdered sugar come in handy! Combine them in a bowl and, when you've got a completed marshmallow, plop it in the bowl and coat it. You don't want to put too much on it, because then it'll taste like cornstarch and powdered sugar instead of delicious vanilla, but you do want enough so that it's no longer sticky. Oh, another tip, don't be a dummy and place finished marshmallows in a bowl that wasn't dried off completely. You know what happens to marshmallows when they get wet? They dissolve into a gooey, slimy mess. 

And now you're done. :) Not so bad, huh? Enjoy! Yum!