The Marshmallow. A key ingredient in Rocky Road, camp-fire songs and dreamy hot chocolates.
Well, thanks to Jo Whitton over at Quirky Cooking, I found out that marshmallows are actually REALLY easy to make, and only require just 4, all natural ingredients! You can of course add extras for flavour and colour, but at the heart of it is just 4!
These marshmallows can be toasted over a fire, used to make rocky road, and even better, melted in your hot chocolate! Just make a not of the recommendations I make below and in my Rocky Road Recipe.
FULL CREDIT must go to the fabulous Jo Whitton for this recipe which I’ve tweaked to my preference – using maple syrup instead of honey, and using less of it (Jo uses 200g which I find far too sweet). Jo has mastered the art of making these in her THERMOMIX as well, so if you have a THERMOMIX, head over to Jo’s website to see her Thermomix method!
Recipe Type: GF, DF, Paleo, RSF.
Time about 30 mins + setting and cutting time
Ingredients:
- 1 C water
- 80-120g maple syrup or raw honey (depends how sweet you like them)
- 3 T gelatine powder
- pinch sea salt
- optional: ½ tsp vanilla powder (or vanilla extract)
Optional additions:
- beetroot powder, acai powder, beetroot juice, blueberry powder for natural colourings
- desiccated coconut for coating (option to lightly toast it on a pan before coating)
Method:
- Line a 20cm square dish or baking tray with baking paper so that there is some paper sticking up the sides.
- In the bowl of a ‘mix master’ (one of those electric beating appliances where the bowl spins while the beaters beat), place the gelatin with about half the water, stir a few times to wet the gelatin then set aside. If you don’t have a mix master, then just use a hand-held beater.
- Place rest of the water, maple syrup and salt in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring until the mixture is has been bubbleing for 2 mins or so (~7 mins total). Remove from heat.
- Now, back to the bowl with water and gelatine. Begin mixing/beating together on a low speed. Then slowly and carefully drizzle the hot syrup into the gelatine mixture (take a good 3-4 minutes to get all the mixture in).
- Once the syrup is all in, add any vanilla and any natural food colourings and turn the speed up to high and beat for 12-15 minutes. The mixture will pretty much quadruple in size and look like thick, fluffy beaten egg-white peaks.
- Transfer to the lined tray using a silicone spatula (regular spoons will be a nightmare as marshmallows are so sticky!).
- Refrigerate for 1 hour, if not longer until firm.
- Lift the edges of the paper up to remove the marshmallows from the dish and peel away the paper. Use scissors to cut into squares of your desired size. Place onto a tray to dry out for a while (drying is important for making rocky road and toasting on a fire).
- Alternatively toss them through some desiccated coconut (toasted if you desire).
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days then freeze.