Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Caramel covered homemade marshmallows

Williams Sonoma versionFollowing the theme of recreating Williams Sonoma food gift ideas, I wanted to share with you another knock-off. It's the caramel covered marshmallow treat. Also called Modjeskas, these candies were purportedly named after a beautiful Polish actress by an admirer.

Anyway, they look a heck of a lot more complicated to make than they actually are. These make great gifts wrapped in wax paper. Especially when you aren't paying $27 a pound for them!

To make the marshmallows:

Ingredients
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons plus 2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup hot water (about 115 degrees)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
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 standing electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let stand to soften.

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, hot 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 degrees, about 12 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

With standing mixer beat on high speed until white, thick and nearly tripled in volume, about 6 minutes. In a large bowl with cleaned beaters beat whites (or reconstituted powdered whites) until they just hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan and sift 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to 1 day.

Run a thin knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto large cutting board. Lifting up 1 corner of inverted pan, with fingers loosen marshmallow and let drop onto cutting board. With a large knife trim edges of marshmallow and cut marshmallows into roughly 1-inch cubes. Sift remaining confectioners' sugar into a large bowl and add marshmallows in batches, tossing to evenly coat. Marshmallows (without caramel) keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature for 1 week.

To make the caramel:

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
16 marshmallows (see recipe above)
Wax paper

Directions
Cut the wax paper into 2 inch x 3 inch wide strips. You may need to adjust the size of your wax paper depending on how big your marshmallows are.

Place the sugar, water, cream, and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the butter until it is melted. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until the caramel reaches 238 degrees, then remove from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla and salt. Allow the caramel to thicken and cool for 10-15 minutes until it cools to about 175 degrees.

To dip the marshmallows:

Using a fork, drop a marshmallow into the caramel and turn it over until it is completely covered. Remove the marshmallow from the caramel, letting excess caramel drip off. Place the marshmallow on a piece of wax paper.

Continue dipping with the remaining marshmallows. If the caramel becomes too stiff, place it over the heat for a minute or two until it becomes easy to work with.

Allow the candies to set fully at room temperature before wrapping. Store excess candies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Related posts:
Chocolate peppermint bark
Holiday gift basket
White chocolate raspberry jam

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Those look really good. Thanks for the recipe :-)

Dmarie said...

oh, my, this Crunchy girl can COOK. I am way too lazy to make such a thing but what a great picture for me to drool over!

Anonymous said...

I'll stick with the orange peels & holiday cookies until there's a gelatin free recipe.

MegSmith @ Cooking.In.College said...

I am seriously drooling!!! Caramel covered HOMEMADE marshmallows. Wow, I am impressed. Those sound fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Another hypocrite "environmentalist" that consumes animal products...If you're going to talk the talk, perhaps walk the walk?

Crunchy Chicken said...

Anon - I've already covered that topic a number of times, most recently here:

Can you eat meat and still be an environmentalist

A vegan diet isn't exactly carbon neutral either and, if you are referring to animal rights, that's a different categorization altogether.

Crunchy Chicken said...

For the first anonymous commenter, look for Kosher unflavored gelatin if you are worried about animal products.

This is a gelatin that is not animal based (and uses agar agar, guar gum or xantham gum). The Kosher gelatin (labeled pareve) should work the same as animal based gelatin.

If you try it with the Kosher, let me know how it works out! I would be happy to switch myself.

Gigi said...

Both the marshmallows and the caramel are delicious... but I couldn't get the caramel to stick to the marshmallows. Any suggestions for future use?

Lisa said...

Thank you, Crunchy, for a great recipe and gift idea! "Anonymous" rather ruined this post for me with their hateful comments hidden behind cowardly anonymity (I think if you're going to flame someone you could at least have the guts to share your name)...still, I tried this recipe and it's delicious. Of course, mine look nothing like the neat and tidy candies in the photo (damn you, Williams-Sonoma's candy-making-machinery!), but they were rich and yummy just the same. THANK YOU!

CodyGirlScout said...

Made the marshmallows yesterday with Kosher gelatin. They worked fine, but I had the same problem as Gigi and another. Although the caramel had cooled, it still melted the marshmallow. Then we let it sit a bit longer and couldn't get the caramel to stick. Solution: Stored mallows for cocoa and popped a pot of corn and made caramel corn! Two treats!!! Thanks for this recipe and all the others!!

Delora said...

Ditto other commenters. I tried this recipe 2yrs ago when you posted it the first time, and in order for the caramel to coat the marshmallow, it had to be warm. Unfortunately, if it was warm, it just melted the marshmallow. I didn't get a single one to work, and tried probably 2 dozen before giving up.

I ended up dipping the rest of the marshmallows in chocolate & sprinkling on chopped nuts. Equally delicious, just different.