Existential life question: to marshmallow or not?
Personally, I have never been a fan. But then again, until this week I had never made my own. These are game changers. I mean, salted caramel? It’s like, a no brainer.
Let me be the first to yell at you to READ THROUGH THE INSTRUCTIONS in their entirety first. Marshmallows are not difficult to make, but they require precision cooking time, specific quantities, and quick handling. This is the second batch I made because the first ended up in the garbage the moment I realized I had measured incorrectly.
#reallife #notabaker #nevergiveup
Hot chocolate, s’mores, afternoon treat — there’s no wrong way to eat these.
The only wrong move you can make is to let another day go by without making a batch for yourself.
And P.S. these will keep forever in an airtight container so NO EXCUSES.
Surprise someone you love (shoutout if the person you love most is yo’self!) with a box of salted caramel marshmallows today, because from where I’m sitting it’s going to be a long ass winter and I, for one, plan on consuming a gallon of hot chocolate each week.
Salted caramel swirl marshmallows
Equipment
- 8" x 8" baking pan
Ingredients
The classic coating
- 1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
- 1 cup cornstarch or potato starch
For the swirl
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 tsp light corn syrup
- 3 Tbsp cream
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
The bloom:
- 4 ½ tsp unflavored powdered gelatin
- ½ cup cold water
The syrup:
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light corn syrup divided
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ tsp salt
The mallowing:
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup classic coating plus more for dusting
Instructions
For the classic coating:
- Sift the ingredients together in a large bowl or combine them in a food processor. This will make more than you need for this recipe. Store in an airtight container; it keeps forever.
Lightly coat an 8-by-8" baking pan with cooking spray.
- Whisk together the gelatin and cold water in a small bowl and let soften for 5 minutes.
- Stir together the sugar, ¼ cup of the corn syrup, water, and salt in a medium saucepan over high heat. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 240 F. Meanwhile, pour remaining ¼ cup corn syrup into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Microwave gelatin on high until completely melted, about 30 seconds. Pour it into the mixer bowl. Set the mixer speed to low and keep it running.
- When the syrup reaches 240 F, slowly pour it into the mixer bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes. Increase to medium-high and beat for 5 more minutes. Beat on the highest setting for 1 to 2 minutes more and beat in the vanilla; the finished marshmallows will be opaque white, fluffy, and tripled in volume.
For the sea salt caramel swirl marshmallows:
- Stir together the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup comes to a bubble. From this point on, don’t stir the syrup; just occasionally swirl the pan gently. When the caramel reaches a light amber color, remove the pan from the heat and quickly whisk in the cream. The caramel will bubble violently, so be careful. Whisk in the salt. Transfer the caramel to a medium bowl.
- Whip up a batch of Classic Vanilla batter. Working quickly, scoop about a quarter of the finished batter into the bowl with the caramel. Whisk the mixture together until well blended. Scrape the caramel marshmallow back into the bowl with the vanilla batter and, using a large spatula and a figure-eight motion, fold and swirl the two together. Pour the marshmallow into the prepared pan, using an offset spatula to smooth it into the corners and flatten the top. Sift coating evenly and generously over the top. Let it set for 8 hours in a cool, dry place.
- Use a knife to loosen the marshmallow from the edges of the pan. Invert the slab onto a coating-dusted work surface and dust it with more coating. Cut it into pieces and dip the sticky edges in more coating, patting off the excess. After a day or two of storage, these mallows may need to be redacted with coating.
Nutrition
*Recipe from Serious Eats.
If you need an 8-by-8-inch pan, I highly recommend USA brand for all bakeware! When baking or roasting, these pans are the easiest to clean and provide the most even cooking!
