Marshmallows

Strawberry Marshmallows

Started by nightscotsman , Mar 28 2003 09:30 AM

nightscotsman

Posted 28 March 2003 - 09:30 AM

Strawberry Marshmallows

These are a variation on a recipe from Martha Stewart. Discussed in this thread.

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.

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Kathy Fujino s advice:

Word of warning though: it's not vegetarian in the least. It does require unflavored gelatin. You probably would need a heavy duty stand mixer in order to do the mixing. I would not attempt this with a hand held mixer. I can hear the motor straining even on my KitchenAid stand mixer. A good candy thermometer would help a lot too.

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/126303-strawberry-marshmallows/?hl=%2Bmarshmallow

For the peppermint marshmallows, I (of course) left out the strawberries. Take the vanilla variant, and sub with peppermint rather than scrape out a vanilla bean. I also have food color gel that I use to swirl in some red. I find that liquid food coloring was a little too liquid.

Some people have done variants such as pumpkin spice (for the fall) and I've read of someone taking curry powder (and then dipping them in chocolate)

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/128680-patriss-pumpkin-spice-marshmallows/?hl=%2Bmarshmallow

I line a pan with Reynolds Release foil that I spray with some Pam and I spread them out/smooth the top with an offset spatula that has been sprayed with Pam.

http://www.reynoldskitchens.com/products/aluminum-foil/non-stick-foil/

I use an oiled pizza cutter to cut my squares, though you could use oiled cookie cutters too.

I don't bother doing a mix of powdered sugar/potato starch to coat the marshmallows. I just do a straight potato starch coat because I find that the powdered sugar gets sticky with time. Corn starch doesn't seem to have the same texture as potato starch. Potato flour isn't the same as potato starch though (flour is just finely ground whole potatoes).

I've not had success making chocolate flavored marshmallow---came out dense in texture probably due to the fat within the chocolate (even though I was using cocoa powder not melted chocolate)

I think the flavor seems to improve if you let them sit around (in an airtight container of course) for a couple of days.

Here is someone's pictorial on how they made it:

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/40358-homemade-marshmallow-recipes-tips/?p=767383