This was my very first Speedbump Post, posted on Blogger using film photos scanned into the computer. Crazy how much has changed.
This December, I was delighted to realize that 4 of the recipes on Gourmet’s holiday cover could be adapted to be dairy/egg/nut free. These marshmallows were a riot. The original recipe is for a toasted coconut marshmallow. Speedbump isn’t a big fan of coconut (it looks like sawdust apparently), so I created some other options. The peppermint marshmallows are so cool looking and are fantastic in hot chocolate soymilk. My girls called them “Unicorn Food”, and they look just like what unicorns should eat! The S’more marshmallows are just plain awesome. Yeah, they’re sweet, but were talking about a recipe with sugar, sugar and more sugar….so let it be what it is.
Toasted Coconut Marshmallows
2 cups unsweetened dried coconut
3 (1/4-ounces) envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup water, divided
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 350. Toast coconut in a shallow baking pan, stirring occasionally, until golden, 7-10 minutes.
2. Line a 9 x 9 baking pan with oiled aluminum foil, sprinkle 1/2 cup toasted coconut over bottom.
3. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup water in the bowl of a stand mixer to soften.
4. Heat sugar, corn syrup, salt and remaining 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
5. Raise heat to medium and bring to a boil, swirling occasionally, don’t stir or scrape down the sides. Continue boiling until a candy thermometer reaches 240, or soft ball stage. Remove from heat.
6. With mixer at low speed, pour hot syrup into the softened gelatin slowly, until incorporated.
7. Crank the mixer up to high and beat like crazy for 15 minutes, it will be really fluffy and thick.
8. Add the vanilla and beat 1 minute more.
9. Pour into 9 x 9 pan, smooth the top as best you can and sprinkle with 1/2 cup coconut.
10. Let stand, uncovered at room temp until firm, about 1-2 hours.
11. Invert onto a cutting board, peel the aluminum foil away.
12. Cut into 3/4 inch strips with a greased chef’s knife, then cut each strip into 3/4 inch squares.
13. Roll around in toasted coconut to cover completely.
Peppermint Stick Marshmallows AKA “Unicorn Food”
Use the same vanilla marshmallow recipe as above, but this time, pulverize 12 candy canes with a tablespoon of cornstarch in a blender/spice grinder/ mini-food processor. Use this to roll the cut marshmallows around in, until all the sticky edges are covered in candy powder.
Homemade S’More Marshmallows
This version is so fun. This time, make the vanilla marshmallows, but at the very end, dump about 3/4 cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips into the warm marshmallow “batter”. I use Divvies chocolate chips. Mix it around a bit by hand and the chocolate will partially melt. Pour the batter into the 9 x9 pan, lined with greased aluminum foil. Instead of coconut, sprinkle the bottom of the pan with crushed graham crackers, and sprinkle the top with graham cracker crumbs. Dredge in crumbs after cutting as well.
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