Eggnog marshmallows

This year’s Christmas series was not as complete as I would have liked it to be, but it was a lot of fun making it just as the previous years: my house smelling of spices, delicious baked goods cooling down over the counter… It is, indeed, my favorite time of the year, and it would not have felt complete without cookies and gingerbread cake.

I hadn’t made marshmallows in a long time, so when I saw this eggnog version I knew they would be a great addition to my sweet celebration – they turned out great, with a wonderful texture. The recipe is great and you can customize it with other flavors, or maybe making them plain vanilla for the little ones to enjoy as well.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Thank you for keeping me company all this year, especially during those moments I wasn’t around here much – I deeply appreciate it. xx

Eggnog marshmallows
slightly adapted from this beautiful blog

10 leaves unflavored gelatin, each cut in 4 pieces
1 cup cold water, divided use
336g (12oz) granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
pinch of table salt
½ cup (60g) confectioners' sugar
½ cup (60g) cornstarch
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ tablespoon rum
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
vegetable oil, for brushing the pan

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with ½ cup (120ml) of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
In a small saucepan combine the remaining ½ cup (120ml) water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 115°C (240°F), approximately 7-8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat – while the mixture cookies, prep the pan: in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and corn starch. Brush a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan with vegetable oil and sprinkle with some of the corn starch mixture, tapping out the excess and saving the remaining mixture for the finishing steps of the recipe.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, add in nutmeg and increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, 12-15 minutes. Beat in the rum and vanilla.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan spreading evenly. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using sharp knife brushed with vegetable oil. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining corn starch mixture. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Makes 48

Christmas rocky road + two out-of-this-world performances

Days ago, thanks to wonderful people who post movies on the Internet (thank you so much!), I could finally watch Behind the Candelabra and what an excellent movie it is: I expected something good because, well, it is a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh, but it turned out to be so much more than what I’d expected because of Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. I could never have thought Douglas could deliver such an amazing performance – I guess that depending on how old we are we tend to associate him with the action hero type or the sexual roles he played in the past (I liked him a lot in Traffic, too, and it’s not his fault Oliver Stone ruined Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps).

For a couple of hours Douglas was Liberace, going the extra mile and doing so much more than just wearing extravagant clothes – the voice, the hair, the manners, it was all there, all perfectly executed.

I love versatile actors and that is why Matt Damon is one of my favorites: with his pretty face he could have easily settled as a heartthrob and taken the romantic-comedy route, but he chose diversity instead and has showed us what a great actor he is. He’s brilliant as Scott Thorson and it’s a shame him and Douglas are going head to head in the awards season, because both deserve to be showered with awards.

My Christmas series continues, this time with a very easy, no-bake recipe – as Liberace clothes were studded with crystals and rhinestones, these rocky road squares are studded with deliciousness, such as nuts and dried fruit. :)

Christmas rocky road
slightly adapted from the always stunning Donna Hay mag

800g dark chocolate – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
1 ½ tablespoons canola oil
120g dried cranberries
180g mini marshmallows
200g Turkish delight, diced
120g pistachios, coarsely chopped

Very lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan and line it with foil (the butter will keep the foil from sliding around in the pan).
Place the chocolate and oil in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water – do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water – and stir occasionally until melted.
In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, marshmallows, Turkish delight and pistachios. Set aside about 1 cup of the chocolate mixture and pour the remaining over the ingredients. Stir until well coated.
Pour mixture into prepared pan and press it down. Drizzle with the reserved chocolate and smooth the top with a spatula.
Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Cut into pieces, remove the foil and serve.

Makes 74 tiny pieces (or cut them larger if you prefer)

Gingerbread marshmallows

I’ve been baking lots of cookies lately – these books have been at my kitchen counter all the time – but I wanted something else for the people at work, something that to them would sound unusual. Marshmallows were the perfect choice: upon delivering some of the small plastic bags filled with the candy some of my coworkers were really intrigued by the idea of homemade marshmallows, and “did you actually make these???” was the sentence I heard the most throughout that day. :)
Besides that, there were other reasons behind the choice: I hadn’t made marshmallows in a very long time, they have a Christmassy feel, the recipe yields a lot – that way many, many goodie bags would be made with it – and I also wanted to please my sister, who is absolutely crazy about them. I waited for her feedback, thinking that she might find them too spicy, or too gingery, but she said they were fantastic – she’s a grown up now and bold flavors don’t scare her anymore (but she still won’t eat bacon, which is something I’ll never understand). :D

Gingerbread marshmallows
adapted from the always gorgeous and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

4 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup (240ml) warm water
3 ¼ cups (650g) granulated sugar
¾ cup corn syrup or golden syrup
½ cup + 1 tablespoon molasses
2/3 cup (160ml) water, extra
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
3 teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
vegetable oil and icing sugar, for the pan

For rolling the marshmallows:
1 ½ cups (210g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20x30cm (8x12in) cake pan and dust it generously with icing sugar*.
Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose, molasses and extra water in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat without stirring. Bring to the boil and cook for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage: 115°C/240°F on a sugar thermometer.
With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture – carefully because the mixture may splash. Add the vanilla and the spices and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into prepared pan and leave at room temperature overnight.

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Sprinkle some of the mixture onto a surface and unmold the marshmallow onto it (loosen it from the sides of the pan with a sharp knife). Using a lightly oiled knife, cut into squares and roll into the icing sugar mixture. Store in an airtight container.

* the recipe yielded so much that I was able to fill two 20x30cm (8x12in) pans with it, and in the end I got 110 marshmallows

Makes about 50 marshmallows

Rocky road brownies

I bought a bag of mini marshmallows last week with these cookies in mind – I found the recipe going through my folder of torn magazine pages and thought it would be great to use whole wheat flour in my baking (haven’t done that in a while now). But the reviews discouraged me to make the cookies. :(

Luckily, Alice Medrich – a.k.a. the Chocolate Queen – came to my rescue and I ended up with these brownies: they are so good, so sinfully delicious that I wished the recipe had yielded more than 16 pieces. :D
While tasting one of the brownies I knew I had done the right thing by buying Medrich’s new cookbook – cannot wait for it to arrive.

Rocky road brownies
from the wonderful Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies

120g (4oz) dark chocolate – I used one with 50% cocoa solids
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (90g) all purpose four
¼ teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon (262g) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup mini marshmallows
90g (3oz) milk chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup (110g) pecans

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter an 8in square cake pan, line with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Butter the foil as well.
Melt the dark chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool to lukewarm.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat eggs, sugar and salt on high speed until the mixture is thick, pale and about double in volume. Fold the chocolate mixture into the eggs until partially incorporated. Sift the flour mixture over the batter and fold just until blended. Transfer to the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Distribute the marshmallows over the batter, followed by the pecans and the milk chocolate. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a cakey part of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs.
Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Cut into squares.

Makes 16

White chocolate, cranberry and strawberry rocky road

I’ve been meaning to make these rocky road bars forever: when I saw so many delicious ingredients combined I knew the candy would be great. And it really was (not to mention how ridiculously easy this recipe is).
I have the same feeling about “Carnage”: so many great actors directed by Polanski. It has got to be good. Too bad I’ll have to wait a while to find out. ;)

White chocolate, cranberry and strawberry rocky road
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Donna Hay Magazine

800g white chocolate, chopped
2½ cups quartered white marshmallows
½ cup chopped dried apples
1 ¾ cups (192g) sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup freeze-dried strawberries, sliced lengthwise

Very lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan and line it with foil (the butter will keep the foil from sliding around the pan).
Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water – do not let the bottom of the bowl touch the water – and cook until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from the heat, add the marshmallow, dried apples and cranberries – keep some of the cranberries for decoration – and stir until well combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the dried strawberries and reserved cranberries. Set aside until firm, 2-3 hours (the recipe calls for placing the pan in the refrigerator but I chose not to).
Cut into pieces, remove the foil and serve.

Makes 25 – I cut them a bit smaller and got 32

Choc chip marshmallows

Not only my readers are the sweetest people ever, they also give me wonderful ideas – Barbara left me a comment once about homemade marshmallows she used to order and told me that her favorites were the chocolate chip ones. Hey, that is one marshmallow flavor I hadn’t tried yet! :)

So I made choc chip marshmallows, inspired by the lovely Barbara. And for the record, they became my sister’s favorites, too. :)

Choc chip marshmallows
adapted from here

2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
½ cup (120ml) warm water
330g caster sugar
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons glucose syrup
1/3 cup (80ml) water, extra
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
100g dark chocolate, chopped into chunks

For rolling the marshmallows:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20cm (8in) square cake pan and dust with icing sugar.

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115°C/240°F) on a sugar thermometer.

With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the vanilla and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Fold in the chocolate chunks – some of them will melt lightly, causing the marbled effect. Pour into prepared pan, cover with foil or baking paper but do not let it touch the marshmallow. Set aside overnight in room temperature.

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the pan. Cut into squares with a lightly oiled knife.

Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container.

Makes 36

Orange blossom water marshmallows

I told you I’m absurdly partial to sweet recipes and I’m sure you’d noticed that already. :)
I love making spoon desserts and cupcakes, for instance, but there’s something that really makes me extra happy: to share what I make. Maybe that is why I’m such an avid cookie baker – they’re easy to package and to carry around; place some cookies in a bag and you can really make someone’s day nicer.

Marshmallows are the same – that’s why you always see them around here. :)

Orange blossom water marshmallows
adapted from here

2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
½ cup (120ml) warm water
330g caster sugar
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons glucose syrup
1/3 cup (80ml) water, extra
1 tablespoon orange blossom water

For rolling the marshmallows:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20cm (8in) square cake pan and dust with icing sugar.

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115°C/240°F) on a sugar thermometer.

With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the orange blossom water and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into prepared pan, cover with foil or baking paper but do not let it touch the marshmallow. Set aside overnight in room temperature.

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the pan. Cut into squares with a lightly oiled knife.

Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container.

Makes 36

Cinnamon marshmallows

I’ve been watching my SATC DVDs again and am surprised by how differently I feel about the show now: I still love it, Samantha continues to be my favorite girl, but Carrie is the biggest pain in the neck ever – my goodness, the woman is annoying!

I cried like a baby watching Charlotte and Harry getting together at the synagogue – I’m such a marshmallow... Some things never change. :)

Cinnamon marshmallows
adapted from a Donna Hay magazine vanilla marshmallow

½ cup (120ml) water
1 ½ cinnamon quills
2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
½ cup (120ml) warm water, extra
330g caster sugar
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons glucose syrup

For rolling the marshmallows:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn starch, sifted
¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon

icing sugar extra, for dusting the pan

Oil a 20cm (8in) square cake pan and dust well with icing sugar.

Combine ½ cup water and cinnamon quills in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, set aside to cool then remove the cinnamon quills.
Place the gelatin and warm water (extra) in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and 1/3 cup (80ml) of the cinnamon infusion in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115°C/240°F) on a sugar thermometer.

With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into prepared pan, cover loosely with lightly greased non-stick baking paper and set aside to firm overnight.

Place the icing sugar, corn starch and ground cinnamon in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully from the pan. Cut into squares with a lightly oiled knife and dust with remaining icing sugar mixture.
Store in an airtight container.

Makes 36

Rocky road cupcakes

When I saw these cupcakes on DH magazine, I though they were chocolate cupcakes. But I was wrong – they were rocky road cupcakes! With marshmallow and Nutella... Yum. :D

It was like the first time I heard “Crazy” on the radio – I could’ve sworn it was Moby...

Rocky road cupcakes
from Donna Hay magazine

250g unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups + 2 tablespoons (274g) caster sugar
4 eggs
2 cups + 2 tablespoons (300g) all purpose flour
¼ cup hazelnut meal*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (240ml) milk
200g dark chocolate, melted – I used 70% cocoa solids
12 large marshmallows
½ cup store-bought chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella)

Whipped chocolate cream:
2 cups (500ml) whipping cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar
½ cup (45g) cocoa powder + extra for dusting

Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift over the flour, hazelnut meal and baking powder and beat until combined. Fold through the milk and chocolate and spoon the mixture into two 6-hole 1-cup capacity muffin pans lined with paper cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked when a tested with a skewer. Allow to cool slightly. While still warm, make a hole in the center of each cupcake using a serrated paring knife. Remove the cake center and set aside. Fill each hole with 1 marshmallow and 1 teaspoon chocolate hazelnut spread. Press the centers back into the holes.

To make the whipped chocolate cream, place the cream, sugar and cocoa in a non-metallic bowl and whisk until soft peaks form (I did not understand this “non-metallic” issue; used a stainless steel bowl and it worked fine). Spread the whipped chocolate cream over the cupcakes with a palette knife. Dust with a bit of cocoa powder and serve.

* I used almond meal (ground almonds)

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above and got 12 cupcakes, using 1/3-cup (80ml) capacity pans; because my pans were smaller I added 1/3 of one marshmallow + ½ teaspoon Nutella to each cupcake

Lemon marshmallows

My brother JP used to be a wonderful company back in my days as a single lady - he’s funny and witty and would always be ready to go to the movies with me even though to this day he doesn’t know who Martin Scorsese is. :D

One thing he didn’t like was going through the trailers prior to watching the actual movie - he didn’t understand how much fun I had watching the trailers at the theater and searching for more later on at home. “Don’t you ever get tired of that?” he once asked.

Now it’s my turn to ask my readers: are you tired of my marshmallow recipes? I just can’t get enough of them... :D

Lemon marshmallows
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

25g powdered gelatin
1 lemon, finely grated zest
¾ cup (180ml) lemon juice
500g caster sugar
1 tablespoon liquid glucose
2 egg whites
icing sugar, sifted, for dusting

Combine gelatin, zest and lemon juice in a small bowl and stand until lemon juice is absorbed (1-2 minutes). Fill a bowl with boiling water and place bowl of gelatin mixture on top and stand until gelatin has dissolved (1-2 minutes). Keep warm.
Combine sugar, glucose and 200ml water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, then brush down sides of pan using a wet, clean pastry brush and cook over medium heat until syrup reaches 125ºC/257ºF on a sugar thermometer (5-10 minutes).
Meanwhile, whisk egg whites using an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and whisk to firm peaks. With motor running and mixer speed on medium, slowly and simultaneously add syrup and gelatin mixture in a thin stream. Whisk until mixture cools to blood temperature. Spoon into a baking paper-lined* 20cm-square cake pan, smooth top using a wet palette knife and refrigerate until firm (1-2 hours). Remove marshmallow from the pan and place it on a cutting board heavily dusted with icing sugar. Carefully remove paper. Using a sharp knife lightly brushed with vegetable oil, cut into cubes, roll in icing sugar and place in an airtight container. Marshmallows will keep refrigerated for 1 week - I usually keep mine in room temperature but they never last that long. :D

* I saw that Deb used an oiled pan dusted with icing sugar (no paper involved). I’ll try that next time

Makes 64

Rosewater marshmallows

Searching for something good on TV last night I stopped zapping when I saw Giovanni Ribisi. It was a drama movie and I was pretty surprised – in a very good way – by his performance... Let’s be honest: it’s not easy to stand out working next to the marvelous Ms. Blanchett. :D

Whether it’s a heavy drama or a light comedy – who can forget Frank Buffay Jr.? – Giovanni Ribisi is always a joy to watch, like marshmallows are a joy to make (and eat).

My inspiration was this recipe but I did not want to use egg whites and adapted a Donna Hay recipe instead.

Rosewater marshmallows
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
½ cup (120ml) warm water
330g caster sugar
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons glucose syrup
1/3 cup (80ml) water, extra
1 tablespoon rosewater
1-2 drops pink food coloring

For rolling the marshmallows:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon corn starch, sifted

Lightly oil a 20cm (8in) square cake pan and line with non-stick baking paper.

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115ºC/240ºF) on a sugar thermometer.

With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the rosewater, the food coloring and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into prepared pan, cover with lightly greased non-stick baking paper and refrigerate overnight (I used regular baking paper and oiled it very well).

Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the paper. Cut into squares with a lightly oiled knife.

Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container.

Makes 36

I'm in a marshmallow state of mind...

Quoting – I mean, sort of – Billy Joel reminds me of the day I saw him and his teeny-tiny wife on Oprah. Katie Lee Joel was showing their apartment and telling how she had gotten Nate Berkus to decorate it, after watching him on Oprah one day. When the cameras got to her room, I was in complete shock – the doors of her (huge) closet were all covered in gold. Yes, people, GOLD. Seriously – I found that so tacky I had to laugh. Out loud. Who needs gold splashed on the walls, for heaven's sake? I wonder if they would air that episode nowadays.

Well, back to something important – the marshmallows. These are great and even though there are extravagant amounts of sugar and corn syrup involved you can still taste the fruit. Make sure you check the post I got the recipe from – her marshmallows look absolutely amazing.

Strawberry marshmallows

2 tablespoons (or 8 sheets) unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup strawberry purée – blend/process 5-6 strawberries and pass through a fine sieve to remove the seeds
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (300g) sugar
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons water
½ cup + 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (140g) confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons corn starch

Line a 20cm (8in) square pan with parchment paper. Coat this with a very thin layer of vegetable oil*.

Fit a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. In the mixing bowl, combine the puree with vanilla extract. Sprinkle with the gelatin and allow to bloom (soften).

In a heavy saucepan, combine sugar, salt, corn syrup and water. Bring to a boil with the lid on and without stirring. When it is at a boil, remove lid and continue to cook without stirring until it reaches the soft-ball stage – 112-115ºC/234-240ºF.

With the mixer at medium speed, pour tall of the hot syrup slowly down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Please be very careful with the hot mixture - use a splash guard if you have one. When all the syrup is added, bring the mixture up to full speed and whip until mixture is fluffy and stiff about 8-10 minutes – if you are using a Kitchen Aid mixer that will take about 5 minutes.

Pour marshmallow into the parchment lined pan and smooth with an oiled offset spatula if necessary. Drop food coloring over the marshmallow and swirl around with a toothpick to create the marbled effect. Allow to sit, uncovered at room temperature for 10-12 hours.

Mix confectioners’ sugar and corn starch and sift over the rested marshmallows. Turn slap onto a cutting board, peel off paper and dust with more of the powder mixture. Cut as desired and dredge again in the powder mixture, and shake off excess powder – using a lightly oiled knife makes this step a lot easier.

* I had a hard time removing them from the paper, but it was worth it. :D

Makes 36

Lavender marshmallows

It seemed like a good idea – something delicate, almost ethereal. But it did not turn out as I expected...

Have you tried lavender marshmallows? I remember seeing a photo on a magazine, months ago, but there was no recipe – it was an ad from a bakery or something. I decided to use a vanilla marshmallow recipe from DH mag #36 adding the dried lavender instead of vanilla extract.

The marshmallow was actually quite good – delicious and fluffy. But the problem was biting into the lavender buds – they tasted sort of bitter. Maybe grinding them with the sugar before making the syrup would solve this problem – I would love to hear your opinion about it.

Lavender marshmallows
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

4 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1 cup (240ml) warm water
660g caster sugar
1 1/3 cups glucose syrup
2/3 cup water, extra
3 tablespoons dried edible lavender*
200g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
35g (about 3 tablespoons) corn starch

Place the gelatin and warm water in the bowl of an electric mixer, stir well to combine and set aside. Place the sugar, glucose and extra water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring for 5-6 minutes or until soft ball stage (115ºC/240ºF) on a sugar thermometer.
With the mixer running at high speed, gradually add the hot syrup to the gelatin mixture. Add the lavender and beat for 10 minutes or until thick and fluffy. Pour into a lightly greased 25x35cm (10x14in) baking dish lined with non-stick baking paper, cover with lightly greased non-stick baking paper and refrigerate overnight (I used regular baking paper and oiled it very well).
Place the icing sugar and corn starch in a bowl and stir to combine. Turn the marshmallow onto a surface lightly dusted with a little of the icing sugar mixture and carefully remove the paper. Cut into 5cm (2in) squares – to make cutting easier, dip the knife in boiling water and wipe dry between each incision.
Dust with remaining icing sugar mixture and store in an airtight container

Makes 25 - I halved the recipe above, used a 20cm (8in) square pan and got 36 smaller marshmallows

Chocolate marshmallows

My friend and I went to the movies last night to watch “Nights in Rodanthe” and we both got out of the theater even more in love with Richard Gere then we already were. :)

Part of the movie takes place in a beautiful beach, with a house surrounded by balconies. I can easily picture myself there, with a cup of hot chocolate and these marshmallows. Talk about a great way of spending a cold afternoon.

Chocolate marshmallows
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Marshmallows:
20g powdered gelatin
330g sugar
100ml corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
20g Dutch-process cocoa

Coating:
60g pure icing sugar, sifted
35g corn starch
15g Dutch-process cocoa

Place gelatin in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add 1/3 cup (80ml) cold water and let stand for 10 minutes.
Combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/3 cup (80ml) water in a saucepan and stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, bring to the boil and cook without stirring until mixture reaches 121ºC/249ºF on a sugar thermometer. With the mixer on low speed, add this syrup in a thin steady stream and whisk until combined. Scrape down sides of bowl, add vanilla, increase speed to high and whisk for 8-10 minutes or until thick, white and fluffy – I used a Kitchen Aid and in 4 minutes it was done.
Sieve over the cocoa, whisk and transfer mixture to a baking paper-lined, lightly oiled 17cm-square cake pan*, smoothing top and stand overnight. Turn onto a lightly oiled cutting board and cut into squares – coating the knife with cooking spray or brushing it with oil helps a lot.

Sieve together icing sugar, corn starch and cocoa, then roll marshmallows in cocoa mixture to coat.

Marshmallows will keep for up to a week in an airtight container.

* I used a high 15cm square pan and a 20cm square pan would have been even better

Makes about 60

Passion fruit marshmallows

I worked as a teacher for 2 ½ years. As I taught in the evening, my students were adults, with very few exceptions. They were sweet, kind and hard working people and teaching them was a wonderful thing.
One day, two Mormon boys stopped by the school and offered to lecture the students, so they would practice their English skills. They told us about their mission in Brazil, the people they’d met, the places they’d seen. And this may come as a surprise to you, but I clearly remember what they said about the food. :)

Among other things, they were completely crazy about guaraná and passion fruit juice. They told the students they did not know how they were going to live without those beverages once they were back in the States.

Passion fruit is a huge favorite of mine and its flavor and smell are intoxicating. Marshmallows made with passion fruit juice? That sounded too fabulous not to try.

My friend Lindsey, whose husband is a fellow Brazilian like me, loves passion fruit juice. And I think she’s gonna love these, too.

Passion fruit marshmallows
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

confectioners’ sugar, for dusting*
180ml strained passion fruit juice (about 10 passion fruits) – I used concentrated bottled juice
20g powdered gelatin
500g caster sugar
2 egg whites
pinch of salt

Generously grease a 17.5x25cm shallow cake pan and dust it liberally with confectioners’ sugar. Combine passion fruit juice and gelatin in a bowl and set aside.

Combine caster sugar and 1 cup (250ml) water in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves, then increase heat to medium and cook for 5-10 minutes, without stirring, or until syrup reaches 125ºC/257ºF on a sugar thermometer. Remove from heat, add passion fruit mixture to syrup – be careful, there will be some steam coming out of the pan - and stir until gelatin dissolves.
Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk egg whites and salt until frothy. Gradually add passion fruit mixture, whisking continuously on medium speed until mixture has doubled in size, then slowly decrease speed and mix until mixture is warm (about 40ºC/104ºF). Pour into prepared cake pan (spread evenly with a lightly oiled spatula, if necessary) then dust top liberally with snow sugar. Stand at room temperature for 3 hours or until firm. Using a sharp knife, cut marshmallow into 2.5cm squares and roll in snow sugar to coat – I turned the whole mixture onto a cutting board lined with baking paper; it was easier to cut the squares.
Store in an airtight container between sheets of baking paper at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

* the original recipe called for “snow sugar”, which they describe as a confectioner’s sugar with a vegetable fat added to prevent the sugar from absorbing moisture and dissolving (available from specialty food stores); I used regular confectioners’ sugar instead and it worked fine.

Makes 54 – I used a 15x25cm pan and got about 70 small marshmallows