An Artic wasteland? A field waiting for a snowball fight?
Nope! A pan of homemade orange marshmallows!
I adore flavored, handcrafted marshmallows. Now that I no longer live near the fabulous treat shop in Oakland, California named Ici, I have to make my own. Once upon a time I tried making peppermint marshmallows, but I sealed them up in a container too soon and they turned into slug cubes. I'm hoping I'll have better luck this try. Since candymaking definitely is a science as well as an art, I turned to scientific-minded television chef Altan Brown for help. He has an episode of Good Eats dedicated to homemade marshmallows, so Eli and I watched that. Then I pulled Brown's recipe off the web.
It starts off quite humble. There's water, corn syrup, and sugar in a pot.
A little heat...
Then pouring a stream of hot syrup into a mixing bowl full of softenened gelatin powder. Soon the mixer's whip is making soft clouds.
At the very last minute, a little finely chopped fresh orange zest goes in. (That isn't in Brown's recipe, but instead an idea swiped from chef Giada De Laurentiis right HERE.)
Ta-dah! Homemade marshmallows resting in their pan for several hours. But I know they are good because I licked the beater. And the spatula. And the mixing bowl.
And the lovely thing about holiday treat-making that involves orange zest is that then you can make fresh-squeezed juice from the leftover fruit!
"Cheers!"
Click HERE to visit Ici, the East Bay decadent ice cream and treat shop.
Click HERE for Altan Brown's marshmallow recipe.
And what else did we use orange zest for this season?
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