Friday, Peppermint marshmallows (& recipe)

I had this crazy idea that I could *try* to post a blog every Friday.

I've always enjoyed having a Friday read online - my personal fave being the 'Best and Worst Dressed Celebrities' that Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand's news website which, FYI, is about 20% actual news ;) ) put out every Friday.

So here's my Friday contribution!

In a sweet aligning of stars and fate I actually managed to make something yeserday that I've been wanting to make for 1.5 years since we visited Aspen, Colorado in the Winter time and froze our little hineys off.

Aspen is the cutest little town and since we couldn't afford anything from the shops (haha... but really, browsing $6000 handbags has no appeal to me) we ducked out of the snow into a hotel and ordered Hot Chocolates. They came with house-made peppermint marshmallows and we sat there in these big wingback chairs by a ginormous fireplace having our hot drinks. It's one of my favourite memories from that trip.

SO, I had to recreate it, and here I am over a year later ticking that one off my making bucket list.

 I got the recipe from food.com and just adjusted it slightly to be peppermint, and coated with cornflour instead of icing sugar so that they wouldn't get sticky again. (Icing sugar dissolves...)

It made a heaping container full and I set them in a smaller pyrex casserole dish so they'd be extra thick. (I captured some of the process in my Insta-stories - it will expire in about 8 hours!)

And I should add - they taste as good as they look! Silky smooth, light as air and instantly melty when you pop one in your mouth. 

My taste tester agrees.

You DON'T need a candy thermometer of any of that annoying jazz that always puts me (and probably you) off making confectionary items. It really is as easy as waiting until the mixtures starts boiling, then throwing it all into your mixing bowl and beating for a few minutes. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was! I chose this recipe because it doesn't require corn syrup/glucose syrup. So you are pretty much guaranteed to have the ingredients in your pantry already.

Here's my adapted recipe:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons gelatin
8 tablespoons cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1⁄2 cup cold water
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
2teaspoons peppermint extract

Method:

1. Dust an 8- or 9-inch square pan with cornflour / corn starch. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, soak gelatin in 8 tbsp cold water. Set aside.
3. Combine granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a large heavy saucepan.
4. Cook and stir over medium heat until dissolved.
5. Add gelatin and bring to a boil.
6. Remove from heat. Pour into a large mixing bowl and let stand until partially cool.
7. Add salt and peppermint extract, along with 3 drops of green food colouring (you can add more if needed once you start mixing).
8. Beat with an electric mixer until soft and double in volume. About 10-15 minutes.
9. Pour into prepared pan to about 1 inch thick.
10. Set to cool until it will not stick to your finger.
11. Cut into 1.5 inch pieces with a hot knife and roll in corn flour / corn starch

Enjoy!