A fun project

One of my ambitions for baking for Christmas time had been to make some homemade marshmallows. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time. But, since I got another long weekend for New Year, I was able to sneak it in. It as a lot easier and straightforward than I initially expected. And the mess was far easier to clean than anticipated.

I'll start this by saying that I'm not really a huge fan of marshmallows to begin with; I just saw that it could be done in one's home, and all of the tutorials I looked at said they tasted so much better than the jet puffed ones... So, I figured what the heck.

The ingredients were fairly straightforward: water, vanilla, salt, sugar, confectioner's sugar, Karo Syrup, and Knox unflavored gelatin.

And then, I busted out THE DINOSAUR. Seriously. I borrowed this from my mom. It's so old that the rubber coating on the cord is starting to crack. This thing is truly the great grandaddy of all KitchenAid mixers (and honey, if you're reading, I'd really like a KitchenAid stand mixer in pink, the breast cancer one). But you know, for all it's cracks and stains, the thing is still a BEAST. She works beautifully. I'm calling her Nessie. She's ancient. She's huge. She's rare.

Sprinkle the gelatin into the water in the mixing bowl, and let it hang out for about ten minutes.

Meanwhile, in a pot, you stir together some more water, regular granulated sugar, and some goopy Karo Syrup. Chem 101: When a liquid can no longer disolve any solid (sugar, salt, etc), it is supersaturated. How to solve that problem: Heat the mixture. The sugar will then begin to dissolve again, and the mixture will begin to take on a liquid form again. Why? I don't know. That's really all that I remember from high school Chemistry (Thanks, Mr Dymond!). So I had to wait and wait for this to start boiling (good thing the gelatin and water in the mixer bowl had to chill for ten or so minutes!). Once it begins to boil, it boils hard, and you keep it at a rolling boil for a full minute.

Next comes the tricky/messy part. Turn Nessie on high speed with the paddle attachment. Pour in the boiling syrup mixture, and try not to get any on you. That stuff will stick to your skin and cause burns that will scar forever. At this point you could add some flavorings. I used vanilla, but some people have added crushed peppermints, or red hots, etc. I'm an old fashioned girl. So I just added the boiling syrup, vanilla, and let that thing run on high for 12 minutes.
While you're doing whatever you decide to do in your 12 minutes, resist the temptation to scrape the sides of the bowl or the paddle. You'll just end up with a sticky, stringy mess, or worse, you'll end up with your finger glued to the bowl!! Just let your mixer do the work and walk away. But set a timer. 12 minutes--no more, no less.

When you're done, use a spatula or a spoon to scrape the mixture into a WELL OILED pan. I didn't even attempt to smooth the top of it. It'll look kind of shiny, and you'll be kind of skeptical, but it'll all come together in a couple of hours. Just taste the goop before it sets. It's sinfully delicious. It would make a helluva rice krispy treat (I am envisioning using red food coloring and making rice krispy treat hearts for Lucas' class valentine's party). Let it sit for an hour, or a few, then cut them into squares. Those with more ambition could oil a cookie cutter, and cut them into shapes (like Peeps). At this point, you can dredge them in corn starch or (my preference) powdered sugar, and they're perfectly done.

Yum. Look at that fluffy goodness.

But then I found out that my husband doesn't care much for marshmallows. Blast. The man who eats everything under the sun doesn't eat marshmallows plain??!? I've never seen him turn down a s'more in my life. Eureeka! I will make them s'mores.

I got down the two bags of chocolate chips I had left from Christmas baking. If you're fancy schmancy, you can use ghiradelli's baking chocolate, or a nice white chocolate, or even those colored candy wafers. My palate is not that refined. I'm loyal to Hershey's. So I melted the chocolate, dipped the marshmallows in it, and coated them well. I laid them on wax paper. I let the chocolate harden on some. On others, I used graham cracker crumbs. When it was all said and done, they're delicious.

Yummo. A perfect wintertime s'more. I've read that you can make your own graham crackers. I'm sniffing a fun summer time project. S'mores with homemade graham crackers and homemade marshmallows. I'll still use Hershey's chocolate, though. Some things just shouldn't be messed with.

The mess was so incredibly esy to clean. Just rinse everything in blazing hot as I could handle water, and the sugar mixture and the marshmallow fluff just dissolves, leaving me with yummy marshmallowy goodness, and a flylady shiny sink!