Homemade Marshmallows

Since I’ve been posting summer-related articles and because it’s summer after all, I’m going to run with the theme… and here’s another summer treat… marshmallows!  Best campfire treat ever and one of the three holy ingredients for S’mores.  Don’t know what s’mores are?  Watch a classic coming-of-age film below. 

I’ve asked my partner to challenge me to make something I wouldn’t ordinarily make and to take advantage of my skills in the kitchen.  About two weeks ago, after we consumed a bag of marshmallows for s’mores, he asked me to make marshmallows.  In my head, I was a bit aghast, “What?!  Really? Marshmallows?  You’re going to waste my time and skills on marshmallows?!”  But then out loud, I said, “Okay, why not.”  Then he said that he wanted to make them.  And then I insistently said, “No, no, I’ll make them.”  

I checked our cookbooks but I found no marshmallow recipes, so with my WP7 beside me, I searched for it and I was saved.   The first recipe I found, which I tried twice, didn’t work for me.  The mixture never set.  So I searched for other recipes and found one from my beloved Mr. Brown.  The third time is the charm.  I followed AB’s marshmallow recipe and the rest is history.  My history that is… or herstory given that I’m an XX (did I go neo-feminist just now?).  I’m not much for candy making but I like working with gelatin.  All thanks to my Mom, a gelatin dessert enthusiast, who always had a supply of gelatin (both powdered and agar-agar) for my sisters and me to experiment with.

Making marshmallow is easy but it’s also a sticky mess.  While whisking the mixture, a few splatters occurred.  The completion of my foray into confection making left me wiping off areas that were splattered and became sticky, which included the floor.  Don’t ask how but it happened, and I nearly slipped while dragging wet papertowels across the floor with my slippered feet.  Who knew making homemade marshmallows can also be dangerous.

The AB recipe calls for a 4 to 24 hour setting time.  One of the batches is doing just that, however, I couldn’t wait so after two hours, I took the smaller batch of the two, and cut and coated the pieces.  As you can see on the photo, the pieces have an unorthodox shape (not the ordinary cuboidal shapes store marshmallows are known for), but that’s okay.  I say, shape your marshmallows in what ever form you want.

Hello Mommy dearest, if you’re reading this, looksie!  I made marshmallows.  Very cool, huh.