In honour of International Hot Chocolate/Cocoa Day, I decided to finally give homemade marshmallows a go. I've wanted to partake in this extravaganza of kitchen chemistry for years and was surprised how easy they turned out to be!
The recipe I used was found on Pinterest and was from here. There were lots of great reviews from people who had tried other marshmallow recipes but experienced failure and then tried this one with great success. I love a little cinnamon in my hot chocolate so these seemed like a perfect fit.
Chocolate Cinnamon Marshmallows
adapted from www.food52.com
Ingredients:
2.5 ounces dark chocolate
1 cup water, divided
3 packets (.25 ounces each) unflavoured gelatin
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 large pinch salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
for coating: 1 cup icing sugar, 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions:
1) Lightly grease a 9x9 metal baking pan with cooking spray.
2) Chop chocolate into pebble-size bits.
3) Place 1/2 cup water in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle three packages of gelatin over the water. Let stand while you prepare the syrup.
4) In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water, sugar, corn syrup and salt. Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil without stirring. Add candy therometer and continue to cook, swirling syrup occasionally and using a pastry brush dipped in cold water to brush down the sugar on the sides of the saucepan. Continue to cook until syrup reaches soft ball stage (238-240 degrees F) and then remove from heat and let sit 1 minute.
5) Turn electric mixer on to low speed. Carefully pour hot sugar syrup in a stream into the mixer bowl.
6) Once the syrup is combined with the gelatin mixture, gradually increase the speed to high. Mix for 12-14 minutes until mixture is opaque and very thick.
7) Turn mixer off and add vanilla extract and then beat for 30 seconds. Add chocolate and beat for 15-20 seconds until just melted and swirled throughout mixture.
8) Transfer marshmallow to buttered pan, using a greased spatula if necessary. Wet your hands and smooth the top of the marshmallow. Set aside uncovered, until firm...about 2 hours.
9) Mix together coating. Stir together icing sugar, cocoa and cinnamon, making sure there are no lumps.
10) Turn marshmallow out of pan and using kitchen scissors dipped in the sugar coating, cut the marshmallows into shapes. Toss each marshmallow piece in the sugar coating, dusting off excess as you go.
10) Package in an airtight container.
A few insider tips...
I had never use gelatin before this recipe. I've only seen gelatin sheets used on the Food Network so wasn't really sure what to look for in packages for this recipe. When I was at the grocery store picking up something in the baking section, I happened to noticed the box of Knox gelatin packets and guessed this was what I needed!
I used 1/4 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of chopped dark chocolate. The marshmallows had a subtle chocolate flavour and I would use more chocolate next time if I wanted more chocolate flavour.
I used Crown Lily White Corn Syrup.
Wow, this stuff is really sticky. When you turn out the square of marshmallow from the pan, make sure to cover your work surface with some of the sugar coating mixture so that your marshmallow doesn't stick to your counter!
The 9x9 pan made these marshmallows really thick and a bit of a challenge to cut easily with kitchen scissors. Next time, I will probably use a 9x13 pan.
Happy Hot Chocolate Day!
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