homemade marshmallows

Over the weekend, my friend and I made homemade marshmallows. This recipe was taken from Gourmet (1998). They are sugary, bouncy, and not that hard to make! Also, sorry these photos aren't the best (some are quite dark...my camera phone doesn't have flash). BUT the good news is that I actually remembered to take photos.

Marshmallows
Ingredients:
about 1 cup confectioners sugar
3 1/2 envelopes (= 2 tablespoons + 2 1/2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites (or you can substitute reconstituted egg whites)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Oil bottom and sides of a 13 by 9 inch baking pan and dust bottom and sides with some confectioners sugar.

In bowl of standing electric mixer (or just a large bowl), sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water and let stand to soften.

In a saucepan or pot, cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, 1/2 cup of water, an dealt over low heat, stirring with a wooden, until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to moderate and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy or digital thermometer registers over 240 degrees (about 12 minutes). Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With a standing or hand held mixture, beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about 6 minutes if using standing mixer or about 10 minutes if using hand held mixture.

In a large bowl with cleaned beaters, beat egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks.

Beat whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into a baking pan (do not worry if you don't get it all in the pan. it gets too sticky and messy if you try to scrape off every last bit). Sift 1/4 cup confectioners sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least 3 ours, and up to 1 day.

Run thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. lifting up 1 corner of inverted pan, loosen marshmallow and let drop onto cutting board. With a large knife, trim edges of marshmallow and cut them into roughly 1 inch cubes. Sift remaining confectioners sugar into a large bowl and add marshmallows in batches, tossing evenly to coat.

Also, I found out kitchen aid mixers are AWESOME. I used to think they were excessive in that I don't really need to use a mixer that often and my hand mixer works fine, but after using one, I've decide that I need one...really bad.