Homemade Marshmallows

By garciamoss

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mild local honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin or 3/4 tablespoon agar agar powder (if you're vegan)
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• A few tablespoons organic cornstarch or cocoa (or toasted coconut, instant coffee, almond flour, or other dry tasty material) to use for finishing the sticky surface
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, almond, mint, orange, or coffee extract, optional (or any other flavored extract in your spice cabinet or 4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder, dissolved in a small bowl with 1 tablespoon hot water)

Details

Adapted from mnn.com

Preparation

Step 1

Put the water in a medium saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over it so it dissolves.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper or use a silicone pan (I used silicone muffin cups) and have a silicone or rubber scraper ready.
Measure and add your sweetener of choice to the dissolved gelatin.
Stir, bring to a boil, and boil for no longer than 1 minute (any longer and the syrup will be too thick to whip for as long as is required).
Add flavoring extract or cocoa paste if desired.
Use an electric mixer to whip the syrup until it becomes fluffy and, somewhat amazingly, white (unless you added cocoa of course).
When it is too thick to whip any longer — this will depend on how thick your syrup was, but anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes is possible — immediately scrape the confection into your prepared loaf pan (dip the scraper in hot water if it sticks)
You need to work quickly to avoid sticky messes because marshmallow sets up rapidly as it stops moving and cools.
Let the marshmallow rest for at least 4 hours, or up to 24 hours.
After it rests, sprinkle a cutting board or tray with either cornstarch or cocoa powder, and dump the slab out onto it.
Wet fingers work well for teasing the marshmallow away from the parchment paper or silicone pan.
Sprinkle the top with more of your coating. Using scissors dipped in hot water (keep a glass beside you for re-dipping), cut the slab into finished chunks the size you want.

Roll and toss your marshmallows in more coating to cover all the sides (this keeps them from sticking together), tap off any excess, and let them sit on the work surface for a few hours to dry a little more.
Store the finished confections in an airtight container so they don’t dry out excessively.

Yields 12 good-sized marshmallows.