Homemade Marshmallows + Homemade Graham Crackers

Levi loves marshmallows.  He likes them in his pancakes, his oatmeal, by themselves in a big blue bowl, and roasted over the flame with a big hunk of bittersweet chocolate and a graham cracker. Marshmallows are his vice.   


Marshmallows are really very easy to make.  They take about 20 minutes to make and assemble.  I like to make toasted coconut marshmallows, chocolate covered marshmallows, rocky road and flavored marshmallows.  However, I like them best roasted and  wedged between a homemade graham cracker and some really good chocolate.  Who out there doesn't like a s'more?  

S'mores evoke so many emotions.  Childhood, camp fires, camp, and the joy you see when your child eats one for the very first time.  Melted marshmallows on a stick!  Come on....so good!

We get invited to a lot of bbq's during the summer months and I hate to arrive empty handed.  At the beginning of the summer I make a huge batch of Nancy Silverton's Graham crackers (see original post, here ).  The dough is really sticky and somewhat hard to work with, but the final result is unbeatable.  I make and shape the dough.  Cut them out to size and then freeze the shaped graham crackers until I am ready to take them to someones house.  The day of, I bake off a dozen or so and package it all up with the marshmallows and some chocolate bars. It's the perfect hostess gift!

Homemade Marshmallows

adapted from Martha Stewart

yield: 48 marshmallows

ingredients:

3 tablespoons +  1 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin

3 cups sugar

1 1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

sifted powdered sugar

instructions:

• spray a 9 x 13" baking dish with cooking spray.  line with parchment allowing for some overhang.  spray the parchment. set aside

• put sugar, corn syrup, salt, 3/4 cups water in a heavy duty saucepan.  bring to a boil over high heat. stirring to dissolve the sugar. cook without stirring, until mixture registers 238* on a candy thermometer.

•while that is cooking, put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of your electric mixer and sprinkle with the gelatin.  soften for 5 minutes.

• using the whisk attachment on your blender, turn on low speed and gradually add your hot syrup.  start on slow speed and once combined, increase the speed to ultimately the highest speed.  The mixture should be very stiff, mix for about 15 minutes.  Beat in vanilla to combine.  

• pour into prepared dish and smooth with an off set spatula.  

• set aside, uncovered for about 3 hours or overnight

• sift 1 cup of powdered sugar in a jelly roll pan.  cut marshmallows with a well oiled knife.  i like my marshmallows 1" squared.  roll the cut marshmallows in the powdered sugar.  if you need more sugar, sift more into the pan.

• store in a container for 3 days or freeze for 2 months.