Good Morning, Darlings!

With Sugar Coma, the Macaron Class and Dave & Sue’s cookies, you would think I would be all sugared out. But apparently that is not the case.  Yesterday I had a hankerin’ to make some hazelnut marshmallows.  Taruan and I have been discussing this for weeks, so I thought I would go ahead and make them. And tell you about them, too, of course!

The recipe I use has been modified from a Martha recipe.  I found mine on egullet, which is a very cool website for all of you interested in food (which I assume you probably are..) Go with the directions for vanilla marshmallows (at the bottom) and instead of vanilla, use hazelnut extract (if you can find it…I found mine on the web).

Strawberry Marshmallows
These are a variation on a recipe from Martha Stewart.

• 4 envelopes gelatin
• 1/2 c strawberry puree (frozen is actually better than fresh unless you have access to very flavorful local strawberries)
• 1-1/4 c water
• 3 c sugar
• 1-1/4 c light corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp orange flower water (optional)
• powdered sugar and potato starch for dusting

Line a sheet pan with a 1″ rim with aluminum foil. coat the foil with vegetable oil or non-stick spray. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment.

Mix the strawberry puree, orange flower water (if using) and 1/2 cup of the water in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the gelatin over to soften.

Put the sugar, corn syrup, remaining 3/4 cup water and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until it reaches the soft-ball stage (234-240 F).

With the mixer at full speed, pour all of the hot syrup slowly down the side of the bowl. Be careful as the mixture is very liquid and hot at this point and some may splash out of the bowl – use a splash guard if you have one. whip until the mixture is very fluffy and stiff, about 8-10 minutes. pour mixture into the foil-lined pan and smooth with an oiled offset spatula so that it’s level with the top of the rim (it won’t completely fill the pan). Allow the mixture to sit, uncovered at room temp for 10 to 12 hours.

Mix equal parts powdered sugar and potato starch and sift generously over the rested marshmallow slab. Turn it out onto a cutting board or counter, peel off foil and dust with more sugar/starch mixture. Slice with a thin-bladed oiled knife or oiled cookie cutters. Dip all cut edges in sugar/starch mixture and shake off excess. Marshmallows will keep several weeks at room temp in an air-tight container.

Variation – Chocolate Marshmallows:
Replace strawberry puree and initial 1/2 cup of water in mixing bowl with 1/2 cup of cocoa disolved in 1/2 cup boiling water in a separate bowl. Soften gelatine in an additional 1/4 cup cold water in mixing bowl. Add cocoa mixture to mixing bowl and procede with recipe as above. This will produce a marshmallow with a strong chocolate flavor, but somewhat denser than the strawberry version. To get a lighter texture as well as a lighter chocolate flavor, reduce cocoa to 1/4 cup.

Variation – Vanilla Marshmallows:
Replace strawberry puree and initial 1/2 cup of water in mixing bowl with 3/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or the seeds scraped from 2 vanilla beans.

Now, I have made marshmallows upteen times and they always (almost) turn out great.  Let me show you in pictures:

So, how did mine turn out?  They certainly look pretty, don’t they?  Well, my darlings, they were dense….dense…dense. What to do when life gives you dense marshmallows? You make taffy!  So now I have a lovely pan of very soft hazelnut taffy.  I think the motor in my kitchenaid is dying and I need to replace it (the motor and/or the kitchenaid). These did not fluff up as hoped.  But in this economy, I refuse to throw anything away.  My hope is that Taruan will like them.  They are tasty!

Success or failure in the kitchen – it all depends on how much time you are willing to work it out. And get creative when it isn’t perfect. Take broken cookies and use them for ice cream toppers.  I believe this taffy would work better in a brownie recipe than regular marshmallows – they’ll hold up better.

Until tomorrow,

xoxo, Patti