Chubby Bunny

Day 20: Homemade marshmallows

What would a cup of hot chocolate be without a layer of fluffy little mini marshmallows floating on top and melting away into a frothy foam.  Whether you like them flamin' or just flame kissed, camping wouldn't be nearly as much fun without a bag of jet puffed mallos to roast over the fire.   And my second day of this challenge would not have even been possible if it weren't for the sticky, glue-like properties of marshmallows.  But, did you know that fluffy gooey fabulousness of marshmallows doesn't have to come in a bag.  Apparently, you can make them yourself and supposedly they actually taste better that way.  I'll be the judge of that!

I sought the guidance of trusted Food Network host Alton Brown.  (well, his recipe popped up first when I Googled homemade marshmallows)  The recipe seemed simple enough, although it did require me to purchase a candy thermometer.  The ingredients were pretty simple.  You need 3 packages of unflavored gelatin, which FYI this does not mean 3 boxes but rather 3 of the little pouches inside one of the boxes (anyone need some gelatin, I have some extra!), some corn syrup, some sugar, and some vanilla extract.  You also need some powdered sugar and cornstarch to coat the marshmallows with.  It takes about 10 minutes to heat the sugar and corn syrup mixture, then about 15 minutes to whip it together with the gelatin, a process that would have been infinitely more enjoyable with the aid of a fancy-shmancy stand mixer.  Pour the whole mixture into a cornstarch and powdered sugar coated baking pan and voila, 4 hours later you have marshmallows. 

But did I stop there.  Of course not.  In Lindsay's world there's always a better way to do something.  How about putting the marshmallow on a stick, dipping it in chocolate and coating the whole thing in graham cracker crumbs. Yeah that's right, homemade smores on a stick.  I call them smores-pops.  I also just dipped some of them in the chocolate.  And then, finally the remainder of them just got the requisite coating of the powdered sugar and corn starch mixture.  Of course that all came after carefully prying the marshmallow slab from its form.  Alton was not exactly forthright in his depiction of this part of the process.

And the verdict is...there certainly is no comparing the taste of a homemade marshmallow to the taste and texture of the store bought variety.  I would say that when it comes to running to the cupboard for a quick sugary treat I actually lean more towards the cheap overly processed bagged variety.  However, for a gourmet treat to tantalize the taste buds there's nothing quite like a homemade marshmallow, or better yet, a yummy smores-pop!