Homemade Marshmallows

I wasn't planning on giving this marshmallow recipe an entry of its own but I didn't want to flood my next S'mores cupcake entry with too much stuff... so I'm gonna be quick and brief here. This recipe can either be used to make normal marshmallows or a marshmallow frosting. I've made them twice for cupcakes and they both turned out pretty well, just have to remember to frost right after whipping for easy handling. I made the mistake of waiting too long and had the worst time frosting with semi-set marshmallows. My cupcakes ended up looking like it was piled with lumpy cottage cheese... GAHHH!!! And I couldn't find corn syrup anywhere in POZ, so i made my own with this corn syrup substitute. Was gonna make them into different colors but it seemed like a messy job at the time. The actual marshmallows came out great though, soft and spongy-- perfect with a cup of hot chocolate ;)

Homemade Marshmallows
from marthastewart.com
INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 cup cold water
• 2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
  
  
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (i used 1 cup)
  
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; line with parchment paper. Spray parchment; set aside.
   
2. Pour 1/3 cup cold water into bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle with gelatin; let mixture soften, about 5 minutes [picture 1].
3. Place sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cover; bring to a boil. Remove lid; cook, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup reaches 238 degrees.(soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes [picture 2].
4. With mixer on low speed, whisk gelatin mixture [picture 3], and slowly pour the syrup in a steady stream down the side of the bowl (to avoid splattering) [picture 4].
   
5. Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is thick, white, and has almost tripled in volume, about 12 minutes [picture 5].
   
6. Add vanilla, and beat 30 seconds to combine [picture 6].
7. Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet; smooth with a greased spatula. Let stand at room temperature until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight [picture 7].
8. Coat cookie cutters with cooking spray to prevent it from sticking.
   
9. Cut out as many individual marshmallows as possible; coat cutter with more spray as needed [picture 8].
   
10. Lightly coat marshmallows with equal parts of cornstarch and powdered sugar [picture 9].
    
11. Use marshmallows immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.
    

Homemade Marshmallows