Marshmallows on a cold 'n rainy day.

I've given up on this font-issue. I am pretty sure it has to do with my pictures and the line breaks because whenever a picture appears - the font is messed up afterwards. You win this round, Blogger!

Anyway. Another dreary day on the West Coast.
My solution? Marshmallows. Actually, I had a bit of an inspiration last night - I imagined these little mini-marshmallows in my head and obsessed about how to make them into reality. I got to use my new 3Qt All-Clad casserole and it worked unbelievably well. I've used it before in savory cooking, but it controlled the temperature of the sugar syrup very well. And I didn't have to wait as long as I usually do! My only worry last night was whether I had enough gelatin (check) and sugar (barely - must get some more!).


Marshmallows
c/o Epicurious

3 envelopes unflavoured gelatin
1 cup water, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup water and left soften while making the syrup.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, salt, and remaining 1/2 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.

Bring to a boil , without stirring, washing any sugar crystals down side of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Use a candy/deep-fry thermometer to check the progress of the syrup. Boil until it hits 240F (soft-ball stage).
Remove from heat and let stand until bubbles dissipate.

With a mixer at low speed, pour hot syrup into gelatin in a thin stream down the side of the bowl.
Increase speed to high and beat until very thick (about 10-15 minutes). Add vanilla. Beat until the batter has become 'stringy' (like melted marshmallows!) and thick.

(in the original recipe, you butter and 'coconut' a metal baking pan, pour in and let stand for 2 hours - sprinkle top with coconut as well. After 2 hours, take out of pan, cut into squares and dredge in coconut.)

Spoon's additional method:
Prepare a piping bag fitted with a 1/2" round (or star) tip.
Take out a few cookie sheets and lay with Silpats/wax paper/parchment.
Pick 'rolling toppings' of your choice (different coloured sanding sugars, nonpareils, cocoa powder, instant espresso powder, icing sugar, coconut etc) and sprinkle in even and thin strips (about 3-4" wide) down the cookie sheet. This will coat the 'bottom' of your marshmallow strips.
Fill the piping bag with marshmallow 'batter' and pipe strips on top of the topping of your choice. At this point - you could gently sprinkle the topping on top of the strips - but you can let them set for 2 hours first.
Once the strips have set, gently and carefully roll the strips in the toppings. I dumped a whole bunch more on top of the strips and rolled them in that. Feel free to mix and match toppings as well. Once the strips are completely covered, use a small knife to cut (or kitchen shears to cut) the strips into bite-sized pieces. Roll these in the topping as well to cover all the sides.

Enjoy!

Or....you could get creative.
As well as mini-marshmallows, I wanted to make 'mallow kisses and managed to pipe out a dozen or so. Cute, aren't they? They did 'melt' a little while setting, but overall, they kept their shape pretty decently. I would suggest that if you're interesting in making just kisses, I would beat the batter until it is very, very stiff so it will hold better.
Anyway, once these were set, I attempted to temper some chocolate (moderately-successful) and then coated the bottom and then sprinkled with toasted coconut.
Into the fridge to harden and voila! And by the way. Absolutely delicious.
I would perhaps recommend any brave souls wanting to attempt this recipe - perhaps dip homemade 'mallows in chocolate and roll in crumbled graham crackers or top with a graham cracker? (or any cookie for that matter)
There was a pimpin' recipe I found that involved a layer of marshmallow, caramel, and chocolate.....oh yeah...I'd do it on a shortbread or cookie crust too.
Explicit, NC-17 food porn, baby.