The best homemade marshmallow you have ever tasted.

The Best Marshmallow You Have Ever Tasted

A marshmallow is not a marshmallow is not a marshmallow.

Have you ever tasted a homemade marshmallow? Inspiration struck about 19 years ago - about the time I started to make soap - to try to make homemade marshmallows for a family winter sledding party. I made gingerbread cookies in the shape of cows (we’re from Wisconsin after all), found some luscious milk and dark chocolate bars, and made homemade marshmallows with Martha Stewart’s recipe so we could have S’mores around the campfire. They were fantastic.

A few years later - why did I wait so long? – I made another batch for Easter, swirling them in pastel-colored sugars instead of white powdered sugar. They were so pretty and the colored superfine dredging sugars made the marshmallows more like the colored chickies we call Peeps – only better! This time I used Ina Garten’s recipe and it didn’t disappoint either.

I suppose it is because I have worked with scents so closely for the past two decades that I am very sensitive to tastes and scents, but those recipes just didn’t taste as good as I thought they should have when I played around with them again about 5 years ago. I made so many batches as I was playing around that I even managed to burn out my mother’s electric mixer in the process and now I have to go farther afield to borrow a mixer. Ha! I suppose at some point I will need to break down and buy one of my own. My little farmhouse kitchen has very little room…

Commercial marshmallows are made with corn syrup, and most homemade marshmallows are too. I actually found that the corn syrup is what gives that rather “tinny” edge to their flavor. So I began to play with other possibilities to replace the corn syrup . Are you beginning to see my habit of changing every recipe I touch coming through here??? Yup! I did it again, and Oh Wow, they are good!

The recipe below is the result of some serious playing around and S’more eating and I think you will find they are worth the effort!

Let’s make ‘em:

Golden Syrup Marshmallows – They’re golden!

* Note: Lyle’s Golden Syrup is a sugar cane syrup. If you can find another brand that is pure cane syrup, go for it! You will find it most easily in more upscale grocery stores – or request it. Or, order it online.

Equipment:

Mixer – large bowl, whisk attachment

Medium saucepan

Depending on desired thickness of the marshmallow: 9X9” / 8X12” / 13 X 9” non-metal pan

Scale or measuring cups & spoons, stirring spoon, rubber scraper, strainer, kitchen knife, bench scraper, cutting board

Ingredients:

3 packages or 3 leaves of unflavored gelatin plus ½ cup cold water

1 ½ cups minus 1 Tablespoon sugar (I like to use caster sugar or superfine baking sugar because it dissolves more quickly, but regular table sugar is fine).

1 cup (8 oz.) Lyle’s Golden Syrup *see note above

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup cold water

1 Tablespoon whiskey vanilla, cacao brandy, or plain old vanilla

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

It’s all good, isn’t it? I can’t wait to have you try these amazing marshmallows!

Here we go:

1.Prepare the pan: sprinkle confectioner’s sugar over the bottom and sides of the non-metal pan. You will note that the sugar doesn’t like to stick to the sides of the pan. Here’s my trick: You don’t want to grease the pan as there shouldn’t be grease of any kind on the marshmallows, but…. Place just a dab of neutral-flavored oil such as grapeseed onto a napkin or paper towel and wipe it around the pan bottom and sides. Then take a clean part of that towel and wipe over the pan again so that there is an extremely thin film of oil on the pan. Using the strainer, evenly sprinkle the confectioner’s sugar. Tip the pan as necessary to coat the sides. It works!

2.Place ½ cup cold water in the mixer bowl and evenly sprinkle the gelatin on top. The gelatin will stiffen quite a bit but it melts quickly when the hot syrup mixture is added later.

3.In a heavy, medium-sized saucepan, stir together the sugar, ½ cup cold water, salt and syrup. Over medium heat, bring the syrup mixture to a boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar, then pretty constantly to avoid scorching it. This is the part that takes the longest and tries my patience! Stir and cook that mixture until it reaches the soft ball stage (240° F / 115° C) on a candy thermometer.

4.Remove from heat, add the vanilla and stir to mix it in thoroughly.

5.Now take that syrup mixture carefully over to the mixer and pour a little bit onto the gelatin. Begin to slowly beat the syrup/gelatin until the gelatin is completely softened and combined with the syrup. Pour the rest of the syrup mixture carefully into the mixer bowl as you increase the speed of the mixer to medium. When all of the syrup has been added to the bowl, add the vanilla and increase the speed to high (I usually go to just below the highest speed) and beat the marshmallows for 15 minutes. Yup! It really will take that long for it to become an amazing treat!

6.Use the rubber scraper to clean off the gooey stickiness from the whisk attachment right into the pan, then scoop or tip the rest of the marshmallow into the pan. Lick the spatula and save the bowl and whisk for later. Use a kitchen knife to spread the marshmallow mixture evenly in the pan. Using the strainer, sprinkle the top of the marshmallow with confectioner’s sugar. Now you can lick that bowl!

7.Allow the giant marshmallow to dry for 12-18 hours.

8.Loosen the marshmallow from the pan, place a cutting board over the pan and tip upside down. With luck your marshmallow will drop right onto the cutting board!

9.Cut with a bench scraper or knife (or cookie cutters!) into desired shapes and sizes. Store in an airtight container. These marshmallows will keep up to a month, but they won’t last that long!