How to make gourmet marshmallows in 13 steps

marsh.gifBelieve it or not, your Grandmother probably made these. Today you can buy gourmet Gourmet Marshmallows at Whole Foods, (which my friend appropriately calls Whole Paycheck) in chocolate or vanilla flavors. Once you’ve tasted one, you’ll never buy those jet-puffed ones again. These are more like clouds. But good marshmallows don’t have to be expensive. And wouldn’t this make a great housewarming gift at a holiday party?

I found this recipe in a very old recipe book in my Mom’s kitchen on that fateful night when I was cleaning out her house. I really don’t know who created this recipe book that my own Mother coveted. But the book looks well-worn, so the recipes must be good.

So here is the recipe, with minor adaptations for today’s technology, from page 28 of the mysterious book.
Ingredients:

  • Butter to coat the pan
  • 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
  • 3 envelopes unflavored gelatin
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • cornstarch for dusting
  1. Lightly grease an 8×8-inch square baking pan with butter.
  2. Sprinkle pan with powdered sugar, making sure to get the sides and bottom.
  3. Sprinkle the gelatin into the 1/2 cup water in the bowl of your mixer and let “bloom” for five minutes.
  4. Combine the corn syrup, sugar and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan.
  5. Stir over low heat until the gelatin and sugar dissolve.
  6. Boil until the sugar’s temperature passes 250°F, which is known as the hard-ball stage — when dropping the sugar into some water will form a hard ball.
  7. Turn the mixer on at low speed (with the bowl of gelatin) while drizzling in the boiling sugar syrup. (My adaptation here.)
  8. CAREFULLY turn the speed up and add the salt.
  9. Once the peaks form, add the vanilla, and turn the speed of the mixer to high. Beat for 15 minutes. (Can you imagine doing this by hand? And then, you probably had to go out and milk the cows yet.)
  10. Pour the mixture into your greased and powdered pan. Use a buttered spatula to make it smooth.
  11. Let this set for at least two hours.
  12. Use a wet knife or a wet pizza cutter to cut the marshmallows into cute little squares. Dust cut squares with powdered sugar, mixed with cornstarch, and set them on baking racks to dry over night.
  13. Store in an air-tight container, and they should last until your kids find them the next morning. Other people tell me that the marshmallows can last as long as a month stored this way. But mine are gone; long gone before then.
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37 comments to “How to make gourmet marshmallows in 13 steps”
  1. Hey, babe! I’m nutty enough to actually try this — there’s no Whole Foods near enough to me that I’m a regular there. Could make a fun pre-camp challenge for me and the kids one day…

    Happy TT!

  2. My grandmother never made those. Probably just as well because, bless her, she was a lousy cook.

    I can’t cook to save my life but your recipe makes me very hungry!

  3. Well, Lisa, maybe that’s because you’ve only had jett-puffed marshmallows. Try them, you will see. Would you eat them on a plane, on a train? What if they were green?

  4. just yesterday a boy at the preschool where I work said to me “marshmallows are made out of ghosts”

    After further discussion it was clear that what he meant is you can make ghosts out marshmallows, but I thought his first statement was charming.

  5. Whole Paycheck…too funny. I have made Martha’s marshmallow recipe and, let me tell you, they are good…add to hot chocolate and you have a steaming cup of perfection. Thanks for the recipe.

  6. Hi! I came over from NaBloPoMo. I’m challenging myself to comment on as many blogs as possible this month as well as post.

    Very cool. It has never occurred to me to try to make my own marshmallows but, now if they run out at the store, I know the world will not end and my cocoa will still be topped by fluffy goodness!

    Happy Posting!

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