Honey Marshmallows from The Urban Poser

For my youngest son's school treat I was planning to make some Paleo cupcakes with a piped marshmallow topping. However I wanted to test the marshmallow recipe first since I had never made it before. First off, I found this recipe here http://urbanposer.blogspot.com/2011/11/home-made-honey-sweetened-marshmallows.html and it's well worth it to watch the video. I will post the recipe/directions below after my review.

I have never made candy before and I had to order a candy thermometer to do this. I had trouble getting the heated mixture up to the correct temp. I read in the reviews other people had this issue too. You're supposed to bring the honey/vanilla mix to 240 degrees. I think the highest mine got was maybe 229 and no matter what I did it would not get higher. I didn't want to burn it by turning up the heat, so after several minutes holding steady around 229 I pulled it off the heat and continued with the recipe.

I am very thankful for my stand mixer! It took a good while to really whip that stuff to stiff peaks. I surely would have lost an arm trying to whip it by hand. I did however have to taste it many times while checking to see if it was done yet. And let me tell you, that soft marshmallow cream is ah-mazhing.

I toasted some coconut flaked to use on the top and bottom to help with sticking. It was really hard to resist messing with them while they sat on the counter to firm up. After a few agonizing hours we cut into them. I was surprised how easily I was able to cut them. The marshmallows are delicious. I will never ever buy store bought marshmallows ever again. We were not huge fans of the coconut sprinkles, though I did break out my fancy Italian vanilla cocoa powder and dipped the sides in some of that and I know now that is the route we will go next time.

I know the recipe says these do not hold up to heat very well. I did broil them on top of some mashed sweet potato keeping very close eye on them while they browned. What I did was cut them into thinner strips so they would cook evenly and carefully layered them over the top. It worked out really well!

I didn't try storing them in the fridge because I read they will separate by doing that. I stored them wrapped loosely in parchment paper in a ziplock bag on the counter for over a week. hard to imagine they lasted that long! But this recipe makes a full cake pan worth of marshmallows, and they are sweet enough you won't be gorging yourself on them at all.

So here is another link to the recipe http://www.mommypotamus.com/homemade-marshmallow-recipe-gaps-paleo-scd/

And here is the recipe itself (Copied and pasted from the link above) -

Home Made Marshmallows

Ingredients:

• 1 cup  filtered water (split into half cups)
• 3 Tbls Grass fed beef gelatin
• 1 cup organic honey
• 1 tsp vanilla (or other) gluten free organic extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

Grease an 8×8(or larger) pan and line with parchment paper in both directions.  Leave some length to use as handles when removing your finished marshmallows.

In your mixer bowl, add the gelatin with 1/2 cup of water

While the gelatin is softening, pour the other 1/2 cup of water in a sauce pan along with the honey, vanilla and the salt. Turn the burner to a medium high heat, bringing the mixture to a boil. Place a candy thermometer in the sauce pan and continue to boil the mixture until it reaches 240 degrees (the soft ball stage). This will take approx. 7-8 min. Immediately remove from the sauce pan from the heat.

Turn your standing mixer to low/med. Slowly pour the honey mixture into the bowl combining it with the softened gelatin. Turn the mixer to high and continue beating the mixtures until it becomes thick like marshmallow creme (about 10 min).

Turn off the mixer and transfer the marshmallow creme to the prepared pan. Remember, if using a coating, add it to the bottom of the pan first before transferring the marshmallow creme. Smooth the top (add more coating if using one). Pat to smooth again.

If you are not using a coating then lightly grease your hands with oil and pat smooth. This will keep it from sticking to your fingers. Alternatively you can press it down with parchment paper, leaving it there till the marshmallows are completely set.

Coating options: Try all kinds of crushed nuts, coconut, almond flour mixed with spices, cocoa….

Also try adding spices, coca and different flavored extracts to your boiled mixture.

The possibilities are really endless!

When set, remove the marshmallows by lifting from the parchment paper flaps.  Cut to desired size and enjoy!