22 August 2008

Not Brave Enough for Homemade Marshmallow

This is another contribution from Grammy's recipe box. I inherited this recipe box as a young girl when my Grammy passed away from ovarian cancer. Over the years, I have cherished its contents. Some recipes date back to my Grammy's mother El and Grammy's aunt Esther in the 1910-20's. If you use a recipe or cooking tip from Grammy's recipe box, I'd love to hear about it.

To see more of Grammy's recipes, click on the "Grammy's recipe box" label at the end of this post.


Okay, I admit it... I'm not brave enough to try to vintage recipe for home marshmallow that I found in my Grammy's recipe box. There. I said it.

Not to make excuses, but I have visions of me in the kitchen creating more heat than is sane (considering the August heat we're having) and ending up with a mess akin to the attach of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man on New York City.

I love to Twitter and one of the people I follow both on her blog and on Twitter is Emiline at Sugar Plum. She mentioned the other evening on Twitter that she was considering making some homemade marshmallow. I asked her later if she had and admitted my lack of bravery in trying Grammy's recipe. This was her reply, "I didn't try :( I decided it was too much work -might try in a few minutes. Need to find a recipe. Wish I had Grammy's recipe."

Well, Emiline, ask and ye shall receive! Here's the recipe. May you be braver than I.

This is typed exactly how the recipe reads:

Marshmallow

Soften the following ingredients well:
  • 2 T gelatine
  • 1/2 c cold water
Cook the following ingredients to 236 degrees F or until it threads about the length of the arm:
  • 2 c sugar
  • 3/4 c boiling water
  • 1/8 t salt
Pour syrup slowly over gelatine, beating constantly until thick and cool (about 20 min.). Flavor as desired. Color. Butter a shallow pan slightly and dust with powdered sugar. Turn the mixture out on this and smooth top evenly. Dust with powdered sugar. Let stand overnight. Cut in squares. Roll in sugar.

Variations:
Chopped nuts, figs, raisins, or candied cherries may be added to the recipe. Plain marshmallow may be cooled in cocoa-nut before dipping in sugar, or dipped in melted chocolate.

6 comments:

The Hungry Mouse said...

Oh, do it! (Edit: Wait for a nice fall day, then...do it!) Homemade marshmallows are wonderful. I've been making them for years, and I'm not sure what's more fun...making them or eating them. Drop me a line if I can be of any assistance. And definitely do it with someone, though, because all that hot sugar is nothing to joke about.

Jessie

The Hungry Mouse
www.thehungrymouse.com

Emily said...

Okay, I need to pay more attention, because I didn't know this blog existed.

This is so great! I'm very excited. The next thing I make (not post) will be marshmallows. I'm going to use this recipe. It's so simple, and I have all the ingredients.
Our candy thermometer is kind of sketchy, so I'm a little worried. My arms are really long...I wonder if that makes a difference.

Thank you!!

The Hungry Mouse said...

Hehe. Yay! You can do it. For what it's worth, I posted instructions for my recipe a while ago: http://www.thehungrymouse.com/home/?p=119

My recipe is a little different from yours (includes Karo syrup). When it cools down, I'd love to try yours out to see how they come out. :D

If your candy thermometer is dicey, I found a decent explanation of how to test the sugar stages by dropping little blobs into cold water: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/sugar-stages.html

(I've never done this, though, as I have that kind of luck where I'd get the sugar on ME, instead of in the water.)

Good luck!
Jessie

The Hungry Mouse
www.thehungrymouse.com

Pumpkin said...

Don't be scared of homemade marshmallows! They sound much more intimidating than they really are. A while back, I posted a step-by-step picture tutorial of marshmallow making at my blog. http://pumpkin-and-spice.blogspot.com/2008/07/marshmallow-101.html
Homemade marshmallows are sooooo good. They'll change your life! :)

Emily said...

Success! Thanks, Grammy. Probably will post about it...later this week, or next week.

Blogger said...

I made this today. EXCELLENT! Thanks a lot for this recipe...
Where I live, corn syrup isn't available - and all recipes called for corn syrup, except this one.

It tasted exactly (or better) than the ones I bought when I was in Miami visiting :)

Thanks, really !!

© 2007-2015 All rights reserved by Cindy Garber Iverson

Copying of content is forbidden without written consent from the author.