Prep Time : 30 Minutes | Cook Time : 0 Minutes | Total Time : 3-4 hours | Difficulty : Candy![]()
Hello my lovelies! Well it wouldn’t be festive around here without some marshmallows. And these are the absolute embodiment of Christmas spirit distilled into a mallow! Fluffy clouds of white on white. Subtle flecks of spices. The aroma and flavour of Christmas. These marshmallows are perfect for gifting or eating or popping into other recipes.
I love the transformation that happens when you make marshmallows. Excluding flavours they don’t have a lot of ingredients either. And they’re totally fine for all kinds of restricted diets. Magical. Well not low sugar but let’s be honest about it – I’ve had a sugar free marshmallow and it was nasty and unsatisfying. Make a batch (or half a batch) and give most of them away. And have a small delicious treat that will actually make you feel treated.
Sift the cornstarch and icing sugar together into a small bowl. This stuff is your best friend. Whenever something is sticky just dust away.
Line your pan with foil. Grease the foil with a little vegetable or coconut oil. Butter will add a flavour that we don’t want today. Dust the oiled pan with a tablespoon or so of your cornstarch mixture.
Put your egg white into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
In a small bowl mix the first measure (1/2 cup) of hot water with the vanilla and add the gelatine a little at a time, stirring until it’s dissolved. It won’t be perfectly smooth but don’t worry. Add the spice mix and stir to combine.
In a small saucepan combine the second measure of water (1 cup) with the sugar and.
Over a medium heat, dissolve the sugar and then bring the syrup to a simmer. Turn the heat up to medium high and cook the syrup until it reaches 125C (260F). IF it goes a few degrees over your marshmallows will be a little firmer but don’t let it go past about 128C.
Now for the tricky timing part. Your egg whites need to be at soft peaks but if we beat them too early and let them sit they will slowly collapse again. When the syrup is in the high hundred and teens start whipping the egg white. The hotter the syrup gets the faster the temperature rises so your egg whites won’t sit for long.
If you are using a stand mixer and find it is having trouble starting to whip the whites use a whisk to get it whipped up a little bit so there is enough volume for the mixer to catch.
When the syrup is ready pour a little bit of the gelatine mixture into the hot syrup and whisk to combine. It will foam up a lot. Slowly add the rest whisking all the time until it’s all combined.
Start your mixer up again on medium. While the whites are whipping slowly add the syrup in a thin stream. If you dump it in the egg whites will cook into lumpy scramble.
When all the syrup is in turn the mixer up to high and whip for 6 to 8 minutes until the marshmallow is pillowy and has cooled significantly.
Use a silicone spatula to spread the marshmallow out into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Set the pan aside to cool and set for at least an hour and more like three. Gently press the top of the marshmallow to see if it’s ready to cut. It will be springy and won’t stick to your finger too much when it’s ready.
Put down a piece of baking paper. Dust the paper with a little of the cornstarch mixture.
Dust the top of the marshmallow with the cornstarch mixture. Lift the block out by the foil and invert it onto the baking paper.
Carefully peel back the foil.
Lightly oil a large sharp knife and cut the marshmallows into squares. I make them fairly small so you can pop one straight in your mouth. Cut them whatever size you like!
After every few cuts wipe down the knife with a warm damp cloth and oil it again – it will make cutting much easier and will help prevent the surface of the mallows from tearing.
Dust all the cut sides lightly with the cornstarch mixture.
You can stop here if you like or add a little glam with a drizzle of dark chocolate – a great addition if you’re going to be gifting these beauties!
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Gingerbread Marshmallows
Prep Time : 30 mins | Cook Time : 0 mins | Total Time : 3-4 hours | Difficulty : Candy
Makes : a 9 by 13 inch pan (I cut about 50 that were just over an inch and they filled a 2 litre jar)
Soft fluffy homemade marshmallows full of heady Christmas spice.
Ingredients:
For handling and cutting:
- 1/4 cup icing sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
For the marshmallow:
- 1/2 cup (120 mls) boiling water
- 2 tablespoons (25 grams) powdered gelatine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon spice mix
- 500 grams sugar
- 1 cup (240 mls) water
- 2 large egg whites
For the spice mix:
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients –
Equipment:
- 9 by 13 inch pan lined with foil
- Standing or hand-held electric mixer
- Very sharp knife and a jug of hot water
- Medium saucepan (at least 2 litres)
Directions:
Sift the cornstarch and icing sugar together into a small bowl. This stuff is your best friend. Whenever something is sticky just dust away.
Line your pan with foil. Grease the foil with a little vegetable or coconut oil. Butter will add a flavour that we don’t want today. Dust the oiled pan with a tablespoon or so of your cornstarch mixture.
Put your egg white into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
In a small bowl mix the first measure (1/2 cup) of hot water with the vanilla and add the gelatine a little at a time, stirring until it’s dissolved. It won’t be perfectly smooth but don’t worry. Add the spice mix and stir to combine.
In a small saucepan combine the second measure of water (1 cup) with the sugar and.
Over a medium heat, dissolve the sugar and then bring the syrup to a simmer. Turn the heat up to medium high and cook the syrup until it reaches 125C (260F). IF it goes a few degrees over your marshmallows will be a little firmer but don’t let it go past about 128C.
Now for the tricky timing part. Your egg whites need to be at soft peaks but if we beat them too early and let them sit they will slowly collapse again. When the syrup is in the high hundred and teens start whipping the egg white. The hotter the syrup gets the faster the temperature rises so your egg whites won’t sit for long.
If you are using a stand mixer and find it is having trouble starting to whip the whites use a whisk to get it whipped up a little bit so there is enough volume for the mixer to catch.
When the syrup is ready pour a little bit of the gelatine mixture into the hot syrup and whisk to combine. It will foam up a lot. Slowly add the rest whisking all the time until it’s all combined.
Start your mixer up again on medium. While the whites are whipping slowly add the syrup in a thin stream. If you dump it in the egg whites will cook into lumpy scramble.
When all the syrup is in turn the mixer up to high and whip for 6 to 8 minutes until the marshmallow is pillowy and has cooled significantly.
Use a silicone spatula to spread the marshmallow out into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Set the pan aside to cool and set for at least an hour and more like three. Gently press the top of the marshmallow to see if it’s ready to cut. It will be springy and won’t stick to your finger too much when it’s ready.
Put down a piece of baking paper. Dust the paper with a little of the cornstarch mixture.
Dust the top of the marshmallow with the cornstarch mixture. Lift the block out by the foil and invert it onto the baking paper.
Carefully peel back the foil.
Lightly oil a large sharp knife and cut the marshmallows into squares. I make them fairly small so you can pop one straight in your mouth. Cut them whatever size you like!
After every few cuts wipe down the knife with a warm damp cloth and oil it again – it will make cutting much easier and will help prevent the surface of the mallows from tearing.
Dust all the cut sides lightly with the cornstarch mixture.
You can stop here if you like or add a little glam with a drizzle of dark chocolate – a great addition if you’re going to be gifting these beauties!
Cook’s Notes:
- These marshmallows make epic s’mores so if you’re going to be toasting marshmallows use these for a holiday twist!
- For me cloves are essential for that Christmas flavour but if you have a spice blend that you like then use that instead.
- A little dark chocolate (a dip or a drizzle) and some pretty packaging will make these into a decadent gift – perfect for all those ‘little somethings’ that you need to come up with at this time of year!
– Marshmallows will keep for a week or two in an airtight container at room temperature but the surface will dry out over time –
Adapted from The River Cottage Baking Book by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.
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