how to make homemade marshmallows

Homemade marshmallows are perfect for fetes (they're cheap to make and fairly allergen-free). You can make them just-the-right-shade-of-Elsa blue and cut them into whatever shape your frozen heart desires.

Technically, the recipe is pretty painless, especially if you have a stand mixer and can put another load of washing on while the mixture whips.

That said, if you happen to look away from your pot for just a second and that pot boils over, you will be cleaning that sticky, gunky scheiße out of the jets of your stove until your kids grow out of their Frozen fixation. Moreover, each and every time you light the stove for the succeeding month, the sickly smell of burning toffee will instantly transport you back to that momentary lapse in judgement.  Pay attention people.

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients:

• 2 cups caster sugar
• 2 tbs gelatine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups water

Method:

Line a cake tin with baking paper.  Leave enough overhang, that you'll be able to lift the marshmallows out of the tin using the baking paper as handles.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and ⅔ cup water.  Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely and the syrup is clear.

In a mug combine the gelatine and ⅔ cup water.  Whisk together with a fork.  Add to the sugar syrup.  Cook, stirring, for about three minutes until the gelatine is dissolved and the mix is clear.  Do NOT look away from this mixture.  Avoid distractions - let the kids fight over the blue block, let the doorbell go unanswered.  Now is not the time to scroll through your Facebook feed. Do NOTHING else for these three minutes but stir and watch.  Whatever it is, it can wait.  Trust me, the clean up is just not worth it.

Once the mixture is clear, allow it to cool to room temperature then pour into a stand mixer and beat for ten minutes, until very thick.  Add the vanilla extract and beat for another minute.  If you want to dye your marshmallows, add food colouring with the vanilla extract.

Pour the marshmallow into the prepared tin and leave to set at room temperature.  From there you can cut your marshmallows into whatever shape you like.  If you're old fashioned, like me, you might like to coat them in toasted coconut.  You can add a few drops of food colouring to plates of coconut, and make the marshmallows in your school/favourite team's colours. 

 There are some things that require your undivided attention in the kitchen - for me the list is toasting nuts, boiling milk and now boiling gelatine/sugar syrup.

what do you have to concentrate on?

care to share a kitchen disaster?