Holiday Tip #5: How to make peppermint marshmallows
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December 20, 2009
The Right Way to Travel
New Year's Countdown, Tip #5: Make your own marshmallows
******************
Dear Reader,
Holiday Tip #5 comes from staff writer, Bonnie Caton...
There’s one in every family: A dessert goddess.
My cousin Lisa is one of them. No one can compete with her gooey bread pudding and bourbon whipped cream.
But this year I have a little trick up my sleeve for wowing family and friends at holiday parties: Home-made marshmallows.
They’re easy to make. They go great with hot chocolate. And you can add flavoring, like vanilla, almond, peppermint, or raspberry extract. Add coloring, too, if you’d like.
Plus, they’re light so you can easily cart them with you across the country or send them anywhere. And you’re almost guaranteed that no one else will bring them to the party. The typical response is, “Wow, these are good! How did you do this?”
Scroll down below for the recipe, which I picked up from SmittenKitchen.com.
Enjoy!
Note: We’ve all got food on the brain this holiday season. But travel editors have to think about food year-round.
Dining is a huge part of travel and culture. And adding a culinary element to your travel article, or writing travel articles that focus on food, can help you earn more as a travel writer.
Get the hottest industry secrets to food writing, travel writing, and combining the two from former food writer with 15+ years of experience, and current Travel Editor at the Denver Post, Kyle Wagner. Along with freelance travel writer and editor Jennifer Stevens, they created AWAI’s Get Paid to Eat program: How to Quickly and Easily Break into Food Writing and Turn Your Dining Adventures into Cash.
Inside, you’ll learn the easiest and fastest way to break into this hot niche... so you can very quickly put yourself in a position where you’re eating well all over the world... seeing a destination through a food-focused lens... and getting paid to do it.
Grab it now while it’s still 20% off for the holidays.
Or check out all of our other holiday deals, including 20% off, including the Quick and Dirty and Lazy Man’s Guides to Stock Photography (which can show you how to sell food photos for stock).
*************************
[Note: This recipe calls for a candy thermometer, but I was fine without one. I just watched the time and cooked the sugar and corn syrup for about 12 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the pan so it doesn’t boil over. -- Bonnie]
Springy, Fluffy Marshmallows (from SmittenKitchen.com)
Adapted from Gourmet, December 1998
Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows
About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)
Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.
In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water, and let stand to soften.
In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer.
In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out. Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.
Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.
Do ahead: Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.
*************************
(c) 2009 American Writers & Artists Inc.
245 NE 4th Ave., Ste 102
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Phone (561) 278-5557
Fax (561) 278-5929
http://www.awaionline.com/contact
December 20, 2009
The Right Way to Travel
New Year's Countdown, Tip #5: Make your own marshmallows
******************
Dear Reader,
Holiday Tip #5 comes from staff writer, Bonnie Caton...
There’s one in every family: A dessert goddess.
My cousin Lisa is one of them. No one can compete with her gooey bread pudding and bourbon whipped cream.
But this year I have a little trick up my sleeve for wowing family and friends at holiday parties: Home-made marshmallows.
They’re easy to make. They go great with hot chocolate. And you can add flavoring, like vanilla, almond, peppermint, or raspberry extract. Add coloring, too, if you’d like.
Plus, they’re light so you can easily cart them with you across the country or send them anywhere. And you’re almost guaranteed that no one else will bring them to the party. The typical response is, “Wow, these are good! How did you do this?”
Scroll down below for the recipe, which I picked up from SmittenKitchen.com.
Enjoy!
Note: We’ve all got food on the brain this holiday season. But travel editors have to think about food year-round.
Dining is a huge part of travel and culture. And adding a culinary element to your travel article, or writing travel articles that focus on food, can help you earn more as a travel writer.
Get the hottest industry secrets to food writing, travel writing, and combining the two from former food writer with 15+ years of experience, and current Travel Editor at the Denver Post, Kyle Wagner. Along with freelance travel writer and editor Jennifer Stevens, they created AWAI’s Get Paid to Eat program: How to Quickly and Easily Break into Food Writing and Turn Your Dining Adventures into Cash.
Inside, you’ll learn the easiest and fastest way to break into this hot niche... so you can very quickly put yourself in a position where you’re eating well all over the world... seeing a destination through a food-focused lens... and getting paid to do it.
Grab it now while it’s still 20% off for the holidays.
Or check out all of our other holiday deals, including 20% off, including the Quick and Dirty and Lazy Man’s Guides to Stock Photography (which can show you how to sell food photos for stock).
*************************
[Note: This recipe calls for a candy thermometer, but I was fine without one. I just watched the time and cooked the sugar and corn syrup for about 12 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on the pan so it doesn’t boil over. -- Bonnie]
Springy, Fluffy Marshmallows (from SmittenKitchen.com)
Adapted from Gourmet, December 1998
Makes about 96 1-inch cubed marshmallows
About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar (cane sugar worked just fine)
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or reconstituted powdered egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla (alternately: 1/2 of a scraped vanilla bean, 2 teaspoons almond or mint extract or maybe even some food coloring for tinting)
Oil bottom and sides of a 13- by 9- by 2-inch rectangular metal baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners’ sugar.
In bowl of a standing electric mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water, and let stand to soften.
In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, second 1/2 cup of cold water, and salt over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers 240°F, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
With standing or a hand-held electric mixer beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about six minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand-held mixer.
In separate medium bowl with cleaned beaters beat egg whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla (or your choice of flavoring) into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and don’t fret if you don’t get it all out. Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.
Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up one corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallow into roughly one-inch cubes. (An oiled pizza cutter works well here too.) Sift remaining confectioners’ sugar back into your now-empty baking pan, and roll the marshmallows through it, on all six sides, before shaking off the excess and packing them away.
Do ahead: Marshmallows keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature 1 week.
*************************
(c) 2009 American Writers & Artists Inc.
245 NE 4th Ave., Ste 102
Delray Beach, FL 33483
Phone (561) 278-5557
Fax (561) 278-5929
http://www.awaionline.com/contact