lifelalife: Heart Marshmallows

I made these heart marshmallows today for my aunt who's birthday is on Tuesday. She lives in Mexico and my mom is always sending her pictures of all the things I make. She loves desserts so for her birthday my mom wanted me to make her chocolate covered marshmallows. That didn't quite turn out but I still tried to make it work. I used Deb's recipe from Smitten Kitchen which is the only recipe I've ever tried and I am never using any other one. It's super easy and seriously FUN! The best part is that they're also perfect every time and SO much better than store bought ones. I can't see myself ever buying them again.

One thing I love about making things from scratch is how you can customize them and make them your own. For example for this recipe you can add food coloring, extracts, nuts, dried fruit, ANYTHING! As cliche as it sounds, the sky's the limit :P Since it's close to Valentine's Day, I made the marshmallow pink and cut it into little hearts but again, you can do any color or shape you want.

If these pictures don't make you want to run out and make them, then you're crazy!

So you put water and gelatin in a stand mixer bowl and while it thickens, you boil sugar and corn syrup until it reaches 240º. Yes, I know, I hate recipes that call for thermometers too but this one is worth it. So go out and get one, you won't regret it! And it doesn't have to be fancy either, the one I got is bulky and ugly but it was only $4. Alright so back to the matter at hand, once the sugar boils pour it into the bowl and slowly stir it until the gelatin dissolves. Then turn the mixer on medium and whip it good!

This is what it looks like after a minute. Now is a good time to add food coloring since it's not thickened yet and it can blend evenly into the marshmallow. For the pink hearts I added five drops of regular red food coloring for a pale pink hue. You need to add a little more than you usually would because as the marshmallow get's whipped, the color gets lighter.

Turn it up to the highest speed and whip it for another 5 minutes. This is after three minutes.

This is what it looks like after 6 minutes. HOW FREAKIN COOL IS THIS!?!?!

Mmm!!! Fluffy and sweet and perfect!

Now you add two whipped egg whites and whatever flavorings you want. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of vanilla.

While the marshmallow is whipping, spray a 9X13" pan with Pam and dust it with powdered sugar so the marshmallow doesn't stick. Then pour in the fluff and refrigerate it for at least 3 hrs. When you take them out just cut them into cubes and coat them in powdered sugar and you're done! Or...

You can cut them into shapes like I did! Just make sure you dip your cutter in powdered sugar otherwise they'll stick to it.

Like I said, dipping them in chocolate didn't really work. The chocolate was too thick and warm and the marshmallows were too soft and they started to melt with the heat of the chocolate and it was just a mess. Instead I lined them on a cookie sheet and drizzled chocolate on top of them.