Strawberry Heart Marshmallows

Strawberry Marshmallows by Bloom Designs

Why homemade strawberry marshmallows?  Because they are completely amazing and so easy to make.  My daughter was taste testing these for me and actually said “Mommy, these are so good.  They don’t taste anything like marshmallows.”  Homemade marshmallow have such a soft, delicate, melt in your mouth texture. The baby pink color from the addition of strawberries makes them perfect for Valentine’s Day.  Can you imagine s’more made out of these?  I guarantee, once you try them, you will never want to go back to store-bought.  Luckily, they are very simple to make as long as you have a candy thermometer.  If you want plain marshmallows leave out the dehydrated strawberries.  Also, I wanted these to look very natural and homemade,so I did not add any food dye.  If you want them pinker, just add a few drops of food coloring.

INGREDIENTS

• Non stick cooking spray
• 4 envelopes unflavored gelatin (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup dehydrated strawberries

DIRECTIONS

• Spray a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with non stick spray. Line with parchment, allowing it to overhang on the long sides of the pan. Spray parchment and set aside.
• Put dehydrated strawberries into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until strawberries are a fine powder.
• Put granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook until mixture registers 238 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 9 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Meanwhile, put 3/4 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer; sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.
• Attach bowl with gelatin to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. With mixer on low-speed, beat hot syrup into gelatin mixture. Gradually raise speed to high; once soft peaks form, add strawberry powder.  Continue beating until mixture is very stiff, about 12 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Set aside, uncovered, until firm, about 3 hours.

Now the fun part cut them into shapes or simple squares. Remove marshmallows from pan by lifting out parchment. Lightly spray a sharp knife or heart shaped cookie cutter with non stick spray. Cut marshmallow with cookie cutter or into 2-inch squares. Sift confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl, and roll each marshmallow in the sugar to coat. Put marshmallows into softer to shake off any extra powdered sugar.

XO,

Jenny