Tag Archives: marshmallow

Peppermint Meringue

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Soundtrack: Sleepyhead, Passion Pit

finished meringues

Supplies:
standing mixer
measuring cups/spoons
spatula
piping bag/tip
silpat lined baking sheet

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/8 tsp peppermint extract
12 drops red food coloring

ingredients

preheat oven to 200degrees

stiff peaks

in standard mixer with whisk attachment beat egg whites and salt on medium high until foamy. with mixture running add in sugar in 3 batches, mixing for about 2 min between each addition. beat until stiff peaks form – about 2 min more.

add in powdered sugar and extract and mix to combine

coloring splatter

dot food coloring onto mixture – do not stir. yes i know this looks disturbingly like a knife wound.

piping

fill piping bag with mixture and pipe onto silpat lined baking sheet in either rounds or heart shapes. or however you like.

bake in oven for 2 1/2hours, then cool for at least an hour

noms

Lessons Learned:

  • i had to turn off the oven a bit early as i was leaving the house, but i think the residual heat carried through enough to make them crispy. prolly not as crispy as they would have been had i followed the timing exactly but they were still tasty with a bit of chew in the center.
  • good mix of rounds and heart shapes, those seem to be the easiest ones to pipe – i think star shape would bulk up too much in the center, maybe i could do some in skinny lines to put in hot cocoa. oh! or like candy cane shaped…

Review: i love meringues. love love. these were a festive flavor and it is an easy enough recipe that lends itself to trying out other flavors – much like marshmallows or macarons… however, i’m still going to stand by keeping them traditional vanilla flavored. also i highly recommend scooping out a small bowl of the mixture before it is piped and baked to enjoy as a marshmallow fluff type confection all on its own.

**disclaimer. in case it wasn’t evident – should you eat this before it is baked off you are, in fact, consuming raw eggs. i’m convinced that dedicating my early years to eating raw cookie dough has insulated me against such concerns.

Vanilla Marshmallows

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Soundtrack: Death From Above 1979

finished marshmallows 

Supplies:
silpat lined baking sheet
3qt saucepan
candy thermometer
measuring cups/spoons
standing mixer

Ingredients:
3 packets unflavored gelatin
1 and 1/2 c sugar
1 c light corn syrup
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbs vanilla extract
confectioners sugar for dusting

ingredients

measure out sugar/salt, corn syrup and 1/2c water

prep

line baking sheet with silpat and coat with powdered sugar

ingredients

combine gelatin and 1/2c cold water in bowl of standing mixer with whisk attachment. let sit and soften while cooking syrup mixture.

cooking

cook sugar, salt, corn syrup, and water over medium heat until sugar dissolves. increase heat and cook until syrup mixture reaches 240degrees.

mixing

slowly pour hot syrup over softened gelatin while mixer is running on low speed. once incorporated increase speed to high.

whisking

let mix for about 10min until glossy, thick and stiff.

mixing

add in vanilla extract and mix to combine.

cooling

pour onto confectioners sugar coated silpat. flatten with wet hand and shape to form rectangle(ish). top with more confectioners sugar.

cutting

let set up overnight, cut into squares and roll in powdered sugar.

noms

Lessons Learned:

  • when transferring the finished marshmallow onto the prepared pan it helps immensely to keep the faucet running on low and continually wet your hands to keep from becoming covered in strands of marshmallow.
  • as always…blast it…make sure to watch the temperature. my first batch over cooked a bit and the whipped up finished marshmallow was a bit off-white and turned out a bit too sticky/rubbery and flat compared with the second batch.

mistake

  • i tried to divide the first batch into 3 separate flavors – vanilla, champagne and strawberry. the marshmallow is so sticky and challenging to work with that this extra step just wound up making a mess. plus the amounts of extract i added in was more of a guestimation and the flavor ended up being too overpowering.

mistake

  • the champagne extract will take some work to figure out the right balance of how much to use to get the flavor, without tasting super alcohol-y. not my favorite so far.

Review: the vanilla only batch turned out perfectly. marshmallows are my favorite confection and i actually prefer them before they’ve set up completely and are still a bit melty textured. i’ve made different flavor combinations in the past and i’m looking forward to tweaking this basic recipe. re-mastering basic vanilla, obviously, is a necessary first step before i change up the flavorings, but the plain vanilla is pretty darn delicious in any case.