marshmallows bliss

sometimes, people ask me the funniest things. they say:

"why would you wanna know how to make marshmallows?"

or "what is the sense in making your own mashed potato?".

or "why would you make your own mayonnaise?".

well. how can i explain - isnt it just so obvious?

if i know how to mash a potato then i can actually get up in the middle of the night and cook some. i can whip up my own mayonnaise when a cocktail sauce-emergency comes up (happens! true thing!).

and what if someone starts a war (whoever you are, please dont)? - well, in case of a war i could still serve marshmallows!

reason enough to finally tackle the recipe. i was looking for a recipe for a long time but only found some that require corn syrup which is something we swiss dont do. so i was giddy happy to find jamie oliver's recipe who uses a homemade sugar sirup you can make in a jiffy.

making marshmallows isnt something that requires a lot of talent nor time. all you need is a sturdy mixer that can whip up some serious foam. then add some funky food colouring, let rest, then cut into cubes and enjoy the fluffiest homemade marshmallows on the planet.

RECIPE

from jamie oliver

4 tablespoons cornflour

4 tablespoons icing sugar

vegetable oil

10 sheets of gelatine

500g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg whites

1 tablespoon food dye

shift cornflour & icing sugar in a bowl. grease a 20 x 20 cm square cake tin with a few drops of veggie oil and dust with a little of the cornflour-sugar. soak gelatine in 125ml cold water.

put caster sugar in a medium saucepan with 250ml water. warm over low heat, sirrring until water dissolves. then place thermometer in the pan and cook until it reads 122 C°. if you have no thermometer, just boil for 10 minutes, then you are done. just make sure the syrup doesnt turn golden. remove from heat, then gently pour gelatine leaves and water into hot sugar syrup - be very careful cuz it might boil and steam!

then add vanilla.

in a large clean bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. with beater on low speed, slowly pour in the sugar syrup. after adding the syrup keep on beating for another 8 minutes or so, until mixture is really thick but still pourable! dont overbeat or you will end up with a goey, ugly mass of foam...

pour marshmallow-mix into prepared tin. to create the marbling, drizzle over the food dye and use a fork to swirl it across the surface. leave marshmallows to set in a cool place for 4-5 hours or overnight, but do not refrigeate!

to cut the marshmallows dust chopping board with cornflour-sugar mixture. using a palette or a filleteknive carefully ease the marshmallows out of the tin onto a cutting board. use cornflour sugar mix to liberally dust the top and sides of the marshmallow. rub a sharp knive with a little veggie oil and cut the block into squares. make sure each cube is well dusted.

store in airtight container (lined with parchment paper) and eat within about a week.