Homemade Coffee Marshmallows

I love a good marshmallow.  There is a gourmet market near my house that sells four marshmallows for TEN DOLLARS.  That is INSANE.  Marshmallows are very simple to make and once you've had a homemade one you'll never want to eat them from the bag again.  Also, people seem to think it's really difficult so you'll come off as a crafty superstar. 

I made these coffee flavored as a little V-Day gift for Scarlet's coffee-loving Papa, but you can make yours vanilla, or peppermint, or whatever flavor you like.  
Get the full Homemade Marshmallow Recipe and Tutorial after the jump...


COFFEE MARSHMALLOW RECIPE


Ingredients:
3 packages of unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice water, divided into 1/2 cups
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 tea salt (coarse or sea salt)
1 tablespoon coffee extract (or 1 teaspoon vanilla)
you can add food coloring if you want
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch


1.  In the bowl of your mixer with the whisk attachment, empty the 3 packets of gelatin and add 1/2 cup ice water.  Let it sit to "bloom" while you do the other stuff



2.  In a sauce pan mix the 1.5 cups sugar, the other 1/2 cup ice water, 1 cup corn syrup and 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt.  Put the lid on and bring it to a boil.



3. Remove the lid and let it cook until it reaches 240 degrees.  Temperature is important with this.  I used a meat thermometer because I couldn't find my candy thermometer.  It worked out fine it was just a pain to clean.

Meanwhile your gelatin has been "blooming" and will look like this:



4.  When it hits 240 degrees immediately remove it and pour it into the mixer on top of the gelatin.  Start the mixer at a slow speed so you don't splash 240 degree sugar syrup on your face:

Put the lid on the mixer and turn it up to way-high speed:



5. That is going to be whisking for a while, so prepare your pan.  use a brownie pan and cover it in plastic wrap.  Coat the plastic wrap with a bunch of non-stick cooking spray.  In a bowl mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 cup cornstarch and generously sprinkle it around.  Pick the pan up and shake it to coat the top and sides.  Pour the excess out and then back in, make sure it is coated really well because your marshmallows will be sticky, and if there's too much you can always brush it off later when the marshmallows are done:



6. Ok, back to your mixer.  The whole mixing process will take about 8-12 minutes.  Your marshmallows mixture is going to about double or triple in size.  it will start like this:

and get as big as this:

You will know it is done when it stops growing.  At that point add your 1 tablespoon of coffee extract or your teaspoon of vanilla or whatever flavoring you want to use and mix one more minute.


7.  It will be thick and sticky:

Pour it in your prepared pan:

Smooth out the top:

And coat with a bunch more of the powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture:

And put plastic wrap over it:

Let it sit overnight (or at least 4-6 hours).  Reserve the remaining sugar/cornstarch mixture.


8.  In the morning take the plastic wrap off:

And remove the marshmallows to a cutting board:

Dust off the excess sugar/cornstarch mixture into a bowl. Cut the marshmallows in half, then quarters, then the other direction:

Dip each one in the sugar/cornstarch mixture until it isn't sticky:

Resist urge to immediately eat all of them:



Serve yourself a few:

Package remainder in cute boxes.  These are martha stewart brownie boxes from Michaels: