Alas I have been a bad blogger!
I have been so busy and then so poorly I have had no time to update this blog so to make up for it I've got a real treat!
I have been a vegetarian all my life and although I am not bothered by not eating meat I must admit I find a life without marshmallows a bit sad sometimes! The commercial vegetarian ones are great but they are normally quite expensive so saved for a treat around Christmas time!
Yesterday I dusted off my sugar thermometer and decided to make my own! I must admit it took three attempts and 900g of wasted sugar (oh the shame!) but I got there in the end and I am really looking forward to trying variations now I've got the basics down.
My biggest piece of advice with this recipe is keep watching the sugar when it is boiling. You will need it to reach the 'hard ball stage' of 127C and one second it will be a beautiful clear sugary goo boiling away and the next it will catch and burn! The first two times I used my largest saucepan but I think this spread it too thin so it was burning too easily, on the third attempt I used a much smaller pan and it didn't burn. DO NOT take your eyes off this!
Also a quick note, although I would actively encourage parents to involve their children with the cooking and baking this isn't a recipe to do with children in my opinion. Most of the time is stood watching boiling sugar, like I said, it needs to reach 127'C, think about that for a moment... 127'C, catch even a tiny splash of that on your skin and it is going to really hurt. You really need to be able to concentrate on this to do it safely as you will be transferring the boiling sugar off the oven top and into a mixing bowl.
So here we go.
Rose Marshmallows
450g Granulated sugar
1 tablespoon liquid glucose
25g Vegeset (this is the vegetarian gelatine)
2 tablespoons rose water
2 egg whites
Cornflour and icing sugar sifted together for dusting.
1.Lightly oil a square baking tin, I use my silicone one as I find it easier to get sweets out of then a tin but as you're also going to line it with greaseproof paper it's entirely your choice.
2.Line with greaseproof paper and lightly oil then sprinkle with corn flour and icing sugar (enough to cover the entire base)
3. Gently heat the sugar with the glucose and 200ml of cold water in a heavy saucepan (as I said above I had more success with a small-medium size pan) stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar has dissolved.
4.Bring to the boil and cover for 3 minutes.
5. Uncover and boil until the temperature reaches 127'C known as the hard ball stage. (Takes 6-10 minutes)
6.Meanwhile place a heatproof bowl over a different pan with boiling water in and dissolve the vegeset in 100ml of water. It will look like a thick paste. Add a few tablespoons of water if desired but do not make it too thin. The ideal is thick without being lumpy.
7. Pour (more plop!) the gelatine into the syrup once it has reached 127C and add the rose water
8. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks
9. Add the mixture and whisk. This is going to take some time. You want the mixture to cool down but not become completely cool as it will be a pain to spread! You need to use a big bowl with high sides as the mixture gets bigger! I used my stand alone mixer and actually got on with some washing up and made a cup of tea during this stage, be prepared for it to take a while.
10. Spread the mixture into your prepare mould and sprinkle with more of your corn flour/icing sugar mix. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge to set up over night.
11. The next day sprinkle some more corn flour and icing sugar on your work top and turn your marshmallow out onto the side. Taking a sharp knife coat it with cooking oil or spray something like fry light onto the knife and slice your marshmallow into your desired shape or size.
These melt in your mouth marshmallows taste almost like Turkish delight because of the rose water and would make a great gift for someone.
Pictures to follow I promise! x
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