I love Spring, cherries are in bloom and air seems to filled with light fragrance of blooming flowers, it is the time to plant flowers, enjoy the sun rays and breath in all we have been missing all these cold months, our sleeping beauty has been kissed by the sun and is slowly awakening...SPRING IS FINALLY HERE.
I saw few cherries in bloom yesterday so I decided to make Cherry Blossom Marshmallows.
Recipe that I have I made at least 10 times, with different variations, this time I decide to add a little orange extract and it is really yummy, so different from traditional vanilla.
Here is the recipe I used many times and it is always delicious. I will post my modifications and tips below the recipe under the section TIPS
Homemade Marshmallow Recipe
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 1/2 envelopes unflavored gelatin / one envelope is approximately 7grams of gelatin, 2 1/4 tsp to 2 1/2tsp/
1 cup cold water,divided
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, or reconstituted powdered egg white/meringue powder/ *
1tbl vanilla*
food coloring if desired, I used pink and aqua color to make the trees
Here you can find out more about how to use gelatin
* one egg white = 2 level tsp of powdered egg white plus 2 Tbl of warm water. I use Wilton's Meringue powder.
* you can flavor your marshmallow using other extracts as well, for the Marshmallow trees I used
1 1/2 tsp mint extract
PREPARE THE PAN
Oil the bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch rectangular metal baking pan and line it with parchment paper, bottom and the sides as well. I use Pam spray it works great.I also spray the parchment paper.
GELATIN
In the bowl of a standing electric mixer or in the large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of cold water and let stand to soften.
SUGAR SYRUP
In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water and salt over medium - low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Using a pastry brush brush the sides of the pan with water. Increase the heat to medium and boil the mixture, WITHOUT STIRRING, until a candy or a digital thermometer registers 240F, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and pour sugar over the gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
MIXING SUGAR MIXTURE
With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat on high speed until white, thick and nearly tripled in volume, about 5-7 minutes.
EGG WHITES
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat egg whites and vanilla or other extract into sugar mixture until just combined.
COLORING
Once you add egg whites and extracts you can color your marshmallow mixture , use only small drops of coloring, mix well, if desired add more color. You only need a little bit.
Pour mixture into a prepared pan. Using a spatula that you oiled or sprayed with Pam spray smooth the top. Chill until firm, uncovered at least 3 hours, or up to a day.
UNMOLDING
Run a thin knife around the edges of a pan and invert the pan onto a large cutting board lined with parchment paper and sprayed with PAM spray . Loosen marshmallow with your fingers and ease onto cutting board. With a large oiled knife, trim the edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into a 1 1/2 inch cubes.Easy tool to use is a pizza cutter, just spray it with some Pam spray or brush with oil, it work very well.
COATING WITH POWDERED SUGAR AND CORN STARCH
As soon as you cut each marshmallow place it into a bowl where you mixed 1/2 Powdered sugar and corn starch. Toss around to coat all the sides of the marshmallow.
To get rid of excess powdered sugar and corn starch I used a metal sieve, just place the marshmallows into the sieve and shake it well to get rid of the excess. It worked well.
Store marshmallows in an airtight container for up a to a week.
(recipe source:
Home Made Marshmallows, adapted from Gourmet Magazine via Smitten Kitchen)
TIPS
-On occasion I have halved the recipe, with no problems, in this case I used a square pan, and the thickness was just like at the picture on the left.
-I have used orange, peppermint, mint extracts instead of vanilla...delicious.Take caution when adding minty flavorings, they can be overpowering. Less is more.
- To achieve the marble effect I mixed about 2 tbl of whipped marshmallow mixture with food coloring and using a tiny whisk I just swirled the colored marshmallow into uncolored one. This any kid could do too.
-To cut the different shapes out of the marshmallow, I oiled or Pam sprayed the cookie cutter and using a bit of pressure and cutting down motion I cut the desired shapes. I recommend using simple cutters.
-To get rid of excess powdered sugar and corn starch I used a metal sieve, just place the marshmallows into the sieve and shake it well to get rid of the excess. It worked well.
I had some left over marshmallow and I needed to use a smaller cutter so I found this cute cutter and it worked perfectly these are so adorable bite size marshmallows.
Cutter is from the Wilton Fondant and Gumpaste Flower kit.
These pretty marshmallows make for such a beautiful display too.
Enjoy!
My another post will be about Cherry Blossom Marshmallow Sandwiches, so stay tuned, coming soon. http://hanielas.blogspot.com/2010/04/cherry-blossom-marshmallows.html
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