52 Weeks of Baking: Week 2 – Homemade Marshmallows
Hi! We’re back, it’s week 2!
I’m a little late posting this here, haven’t been feeling too good recently so couldn’t bring myself to write here sooner. Anyways, it’s here now!
The theme for this week’s challenge was “Candies”. Basically, you could choose to make any kind of candy yourself (caramel, sugar candy, etc.) or have them incorporated in your bakes. I decided to make Marshmallows from scratch because I had never done it before! Spoiler alert – totally worth it!
Week 2
If you’ve ever worked with sugar syrup or caramel before, then making marshmallows yourself will be a piece of cake for you. I had honestly no idea that it was this easy. But even if you have not worked with sugar before, it will still be easy. The end result will be delicious sugary fluff. The most difficult part is honestly waiting until it the marshmallows are set so you can start eating them.
I honestly cannot wait until it will be summer and I can grill these beauties next to a fire to get this crunchy caramelized coating… Although, now that I think about it, I’m not sure if it’s an Estonian thing?
In any case, if you want to try making them, I used this recipe by the Casual Foodist. It’s a simple one and doesn’t use corn syrup as many others do.
Good luck and let me know if you liked it! Good baking!
Homemade Marshmallows
This recipe originates from The Casual Foodist's website. It's a super simple way to make marshmallows yourself - and they will be way better than the store-bought ones!
Ingredients
- 500 g granulated sugar
- 315 ml water, divided
- 7 tsp gelatin
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1,5 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 30 g cornstarch
Instructions
- Place the sugar and half of the water in a medium saucepan. Bring the sugar mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, occasionally swirling the pan to evenly distribute the heat. Lower the heat to medium and place a lid on the pan.
- Gently clip a candy thermometer to the pan, ensuring the thermometer does not touch the bottom of the pan. Heat the sugar to 118°C, or firm-ball stage.
- While the sugar syrup is cooking, combine the remaining half cup of water and gelatin in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, stirring to combine. Allow this to sit for 10 minutes to bloom.
- Once the sugar syrup reaches 118°C, move the pan off the burner and allow the bubbles to subside. In the stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add the sugar syrup mixture slowly over low speed, then add the salt and increase the speed to medium.
- Whisk for 6 minutes or until the mixture is fluffy, glossy and tripled in volume. Add the vanilla extract and whisk for 1 more minute.
- Grease a 20cm x 20cm pan with cooking spray, butter or coconut oil. Spread the marshmallow mixture into the pan and allow the marshmallows to rest for 5 hours (this allows the marshmallows to properly cure).
- Once rested, In a medium bowl combine powdered sugar and cornstarch. Cut the marshmallows into your desired size and toss the marshmallows in the powdered sugar mixture to coat. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.