homemade marshmallows

I have fancied having a go at making these for ages but held them off for the perfect time…the putting up of the Christmas tree I reckoned would be it! The promise of a hot chocolate with our homemade marshmallows was the plan for the post decoration lull!




We began the night before by gathering our ingredients:

vegetable oil (for brushing)
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups of cornflour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
water
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
4 envelopes unflavoured gelatin
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

You’ll also need a thermometer.

// Brush your oil on a 9 by 13 inch dish and lay greaseproof paper over. Brush the paper too.

// In a medium sized pan measure your granulated sugar, cornflour, salt and 3/4 cup water. Bring this to the boil on a high heat and make sure your sugar is dissolved. Place your thermometer in the mixture and leave to cook, without stirring, until the temperature reaches 114 degrees C.

// Meanwhile in the bowl of an electric mixer measure 3/4 cup of water and sprinkle the gelatine over the top and leave to soften for about 5 minutes.

// With the mixer on a low speed and a whisk attached, slowly add the syrup to the gelatine mixture. Gradually raise the speed to high and continue to beat until the mixture is very stiff. I found this quite hard to gauge but it was roughly for 12-15 minutes. Beat in the vanilla essence.

// Pour the marshmallow mix on to the greaseproof paper dish and add a drop or two of food colouring. Drag the colour over the top of the mix creating a marbled effect. Leave to set for a few hours but preferably overnight.



// Next day, use your icing sugar to coat your mix and the table. Turn the greaseproof paper  over to lay mix on the dusted surface. At this point you can cut the marshmallows into squares or use cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Keep cleaning and oiling your knife so as it doesn’t stick to the mixture.

// When the marshmallows are cut, coat them in icing sugar and they”re ready to go!