Why Weight
Total Eclipse of the Tart
Homemade Sprinkles
Banana Pudding
About BraveTart
Vanilla Bean Marshmallows · GF (100+ marshmallows)
Tweet
1.5 ounces gelatin
8 ounces cold water (or coffee, mmmmm, coffee marshmallows…)
11 ounces corn syrup, honey, or maple syrup
8 ounces water
28 ounces sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod reserved for another use
ample powdered sugar for dusting (1 cup or more)
Unless you have a supercharged motor on your hand mixer, I don’t think it will survive this recipe. Use a stand mixer if at all possible.
Have a lightly greased 9”x13” pan at the ready.
So. Combine the gelatin and water together in the bottom of a stand mixer bowl. Set aside.
In a medium sized heavy bottomed pot, combine the syrup, water, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean scrapings. Set over medium heat and stir gently, taking care to not splash liquid (and thus sugar crystals) up the sides of the bowl. Once the mixture starts to simmer, stop stirring and put a lid on it for 5 minutes, letting it go to town (this lets some steam build up in the pot to “steam off” any sugar crystals stuck on the sides of the pot.).
Warning: if you use honey, the smell will be awful. Barnyard and hay and all kinds of musty awful. The end result will taste awesome, but getting there will fill you with doubt. Hold the course. It’ll get better.
After 5 minutes, remove the lid and stick in a candy thermometer.
Keep cooking, undisturbed, until the mixture reaches 240°. Then shut off the heat and let it stand until it cools to 210°. This is important.
Once the mixture has cooled to 210°, and taking a goodly amount of caution as this mixture is super hot, pour all of it into the mixing bowl with the awaiting gelatin. Fit the bowl with the whisk attachment and crank it up to medium-high speed.
You are gonna let this thing whip it, whip it good until the mixture has really increased in volume, doubled? tripled? It will nearly exceed the bowl at any rate.
Once you’ve shut off the mixer, move quickly. There’s no delicate way to put this: it’s gonna be a sticky mess. But that’s half the fun, so don’t stress it. Set the whisk attachement aside (or give it to a small child if you really want to see what a mess looks like) and scrape the marshmallow goo into the prepared pan.
Get your fingers a little damp and pat down the mixture. Lift up and smack the pan a few times against the counter to dislodge any air bubbles and help it level out more. The goal is for more or less even.
Dust the top of the giant marshmallow with some powdered sugar, cover in plastic and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Rejoice! You’ve done all the hard work, now for the best part!!!
Get a cutting board ready by dusting it with powdered sugar. Take your pan of chilled marshmallows and literally reach your fingers between the ‘mallow and the pan, and pull that guy right outta there.
You’re now holding one giant marshmallow pillow. OMG, right?
Dust the exposed bottom of the ‘mallow with some more powdered sugar. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have to resist the urge to sleep on it. It feels like a Tempurpedic pillow. It is soft and ever so squishy and silky smooth. Have I mentioned this is my favorite???
Use a hot knife to cut the marshmallows into about 13, 1” strips. You’ll have to stop periodically and clean your knife. Once the strips are cut, roll them about in some powdered sugar so none of the sides are sticky.
Now use the knife to cut each strip at 1” increments. Of course, the marshmallows are probably close to 2” tall, so they won’t be perfect cubes, but rather rectangles.
Toss these cut pieces in more powdered sugar to prevent them from sticking.
So store these guys in an airtight container or a big zippy bag. They’re essentially nothing but sugar, so they have a terrific shelf life. Weeks. Months even, if you refrigerate them. A year in the freezer.
Fresh Berry Marshmallows
Make a double batch of strawberry or blueberry reduction. Use the reduction to replace all of the water and the corn syrup in the recipe. It’s a simple 1-to-1 substitution. Decrease the sugar by 8 ounces and increase the salt to 3/4 tsp to account for the extra sugar the reduction contributes.
During the final whipping stage, right before you call it quits, taste the marshmallow fluffy. If you’d like more berry flavor, drizzle in up to 5 more ounces of reduction. Whip until fully incorporated, and proceed as usual.
Pink Peppermint Marshmallows
Follow the basic recipe exactly and just before you finish mixing add in 1/4 tsp peppermint oil. Let the mixture whip a few seconds, then taste the marshmallow fluff to see if it is suitably minty for your tastes. You can always add more, but you can’t take it away, so keep adding in 1/4 tsp increments until you’re happy with the flavor.
Add in a few drops of red food coloring or gel paste. For a marbled effect, fold the mixture with a spatula before transferring the marshmallow goo into the pan. For a uniformly pink color, whip on the mixer a few extra seconds and then transfer to the prepared pan.
Cut into heart shapes, if you like. I did.
Brown Butter and Sage Marshmallows
Brown Butter Sage Marshmallows make the ultimate topping for Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole. I have previously raved on the topic, so I will refrain from doing so again.
Even though it’s essentially just a variation of this basic recipe, I’ve decided to dedicate a whole page to the topic. These marshmallows deserve it. Click here for the recipe.
Smoked Vanilla Bean Marshmallows
To make City Slicker Campfire S'mores you start with vanilla bean marshmallows and add smoke.
I’ve done this two ways, by a) actually soaking a vanilla bean in water and letting it smoke out on the grill and b) using liquid smoke.
Liquid smoke is by far the easier, more elegant solution. I mean, if you have a grill on which to smoke the vanilla beans, you have a place to toast said marshmallows and thus obviate the need to imbue the marshmallows with smoke.
The key to using liquid smoke lies in psychotic restraint. A drop or two, a 1/4 tsp at the absolute most, will give a batch of marshmallows a really lovely, gentle smokey vibe. But the line between “Aww, it’s like a campfire!” and “$%*&, it’s like a campfire!” is very thin.
Also, you must be sure not to buy the “Mesquite” type of liquid smoke, lest you end up with BBQ flavored marshmallows.
So, follow the recipe above, and when you’ve finished mixing, turn the speed down to low and add in the liquid smoke, a little at a time and tasting along the way, until it’s as smokey as you enjoy. Be sure to let it mix thoroughly after each addition for even distribution.
Carry on with panning the marshmallows as described above.
If anyone is interested in actually smoking their vanilla beans, leave a comment and I’ll elaborate.
Any questions?
Nov 05, 2010 · 2:11 PM
Awesome, what are you planning?
If your beans are especially moist and wonderful, your job is all the easier; just soak them in water for an hour. For super dry beans, you’ll need to soak them overnight in water. I take the beans, split them, but not all the way, so that they’re still intact as one piece. I just want the smoke to penetrate inside.
I don’t have good instructions on setting up the grill itself, my husband always does that part. When he’s done grilling whatever, and the heat has died down, but it’s still putting off lots of smoke, and quite warm, I put a cookie rack on the grill (to keep the v beans from falling in) and then set the beans on it, away from the heat source.
Then I spritz them with water from a spray bottle, and pop the lid on the grill. Every few minutes or so, I take off the lid, and spray them down with water. This keeps them from getting dried out. I’ve found 12 minutes imparts a sufficiently smokey flavor into the bean.
After, I soak the beans in whatever liquid I’m using for my recipe- in this case the water for the marshmallows (which is also the water I pre-soak them in at the beginning). Then, I scrape all the seeds out after the beans have softened back up.
I definitely have not perfected this technique, but just sort of discovered it playing around with the dying grill fire and smoke.
Let me know what you end up making!
Nov 06, 2010 · 5:09 PM
Sounds awesome! If it does turn out to be too much trouble, the liquid smoke does an incredible job, when used judiciously. Though it does feel like cheating… 
Nov 27, 2010 · 2:49 AM
Stella, I have a question about the savory marshmallows. Do you still use powdered sugar to coat the outsides once you cut them? Could I use cornstarch instead?
· The Salty Girl · www.thesaltygirl.blogspot.com
Nov 27, 2010 · 9:48 AM
Salty Girl, I just used powdered sugar. There’s so much sugar in the recipe already, that a little extra powdered sugar to coat doesn’t do much one way or the other. They have enough of a sweet/savory flavor that it works, but if you’re really wanting to amp up the savory quality, corn starch would be totally fine! 
May 23, 2011 · 8:28 PM
Stella,
These sound fabulous! I’m camping this weekend and might make these before I leave! One question though…I’ve made marshmallows quite a few times but I always seem to have the problem that they won’t stay fluffy – they get sticky no matter how much corn starch/powdered sugar I use. Any suggestions would be fantastic!
· Rebecca · secretmarmalade.com
May 23, 2011 · 8:37 PM
Rebecca, without knowing your recipe, it’s hard to say, but my first guess would be that perhaps your candy thermometer isn’t calibrated correctly. If the mixture isn’t cooked to the proper temperature, the marshmallows won’t set up correctly. You can find out by putting your thermometer into a pot of vigorously boiling water and making sure it registers 212° F. Also, if you’re using a mercury based thermometer, make sure to crouch down to check the temperature at eye level, otherwise you can misread the temp.
Lastly, make sure the hot sugar mixture cools to 210° before adding it to the gelatin, this damages the strength of the gelatin and creates a poor set. Hope one of those tidbits helps! Happy camping!
May 23, 2011 · 11:25 PM
Ah! Stella, the temperature must be the issue. The latest recipe I used was this one (http://www.couldntbeparve.com/2011/05/raspberry-lemonade-marshmallows-for-a-great-cause/) and it says to cook it to 240, then remove from heat, then add the gelatin. Thank you!
· Rebecca · secretmarmalade.com
May 24, 2011 · 9:39 AM
Awesome! So glad to have found the problem. Your marshmallows should turn out splendidly now. Yay!
Oct 28, 2011 · 1:55 AM
@SharpHouse, in spite of the wide sugar variation, I’ve used super dark grades at work and the more generic types you buy at the grocery and both work well in terms of texture. Of course for maximum flavor, the darker the better. Taste the mixture before it’s finished whipping and you can adjust the salt, if need be.
Nov 14, 2011 · 3:55 PM
@yramirez, I love the vanilla flavor in with the sweet potatoes, but feel free to leave it out if you’d like a less “dessert-y” flavor profile. Cheers!
Nov 27, 2011 · 8:00 PM
Stella- I tried a batch of these for Thanksgiving but used maple syrup and sifted maple sugar. The syrup has a lower boiling point than honey and corn syrup, and I couldn’t get the mix to reach 240 without risking scorching. The resulting marshmallows are behaving normally, except they are emitting an almost maple-syrup-like fluid as they age. Apart from dusting them with cornstarch daily, do you have any hints that could be implemented during the cooking process to keep this from happening? More gelatin, longer cooking time, etc.?
Much love and thanks for the inspiration!!
—Amanda
Nov 27, 2011 · 9:43 PM
@Amanda, I am not certain there’s anything you can do when the sugar hasn’t cooked long enough to reach somewhere between the soft and firm ball stages. I assume it has to do with there being excess unbound liquid and the sugar lacking the structure to hold in place. I’m curious about the scorching though. Using maple syrup should take l longer, but it should still be able to reach 240 without anything burning. It may emit some funky smells (as honey does) as certain compounds are cooked off, but it shouldn’t scorch. Did you use a heavy bottomed pot?
As far as how to salvage the ones you have, I’d store ‘em in a tupperware and roll will it. Let them leak as much as they like and, just prior to serving, coat ‘em in powdered sugar/cornstarch ala minute. They’ll just keep soaking through time and again, if you do it earlier, and then you’ll start to develop some funky build up. 
I’ll make a batch of maple mallows tomorrow at work (I haven’t made any in a while myself) and see how they turn out or if I note any particular things to take notice of during the process.
Feb 05, 2012 · 7:36 PM
This is a little late, sorry….
Hi there! Do you think one could crumble the gram cracker and role the cut-and-still-sticky marshmallow-y goodness around in the gram crumb before drizzling chocolate on top? I love the idea of these and I’d love to send to some foreign friends who’ve never had s’more-deliciousness. I’d like to make it an easily ship-able item and was thinking this could be a good way to get all the flavors in a one-stop marshmallow.
Whadda you think?
Feb 05, 2012 · 7:43 PM
@c8h10n4o2junkie, that sounds like a fabulous idea, I love it! You know, instead of drizzling the graham-coated marshmallows in chocolate, you might even stir chopped up chocolate bars or chocolate chips into the marshmallow mix before pouring it into the pan for a truly “all-in-one.” I love your idea, you’ll have to snap a quick pic on your phone to show me how they turn out!
Feb 27, 2012 · 6:33 AM
I have been making lemon and lavender marshmallows and want to make smoked ones. However, everything I do is in metric and leaf gelatin so it is a bit more of a challenge to convert. I dont cover the sugar pot by the way but I do use a copper pot. The real key, as with, Italian meringue, is to make certain the sugar syrup hit neither the beater nor your hands, or it is a disaster and a messy clean up for naught.
· Heide · wildflourand
Feb 27, 2012 · 9:08 PM
@Heide, hot sugar and beaters definitely don’t mix! That’s what I like about this recipe, everything is poured in all at once, so no risk of beaters-in-motion. I use leaf gelatin too.
Mar 12, 2012 · 6:52 PM
Hi Stella, I have a question about using your strawberry reduction (which is wonderful, by the way) to make strawberry marshmallows. I’ve had difficulties cooking the sugar-strawberry mixture to the proper temperature without the fruit burning on the bottom of the pan, or at the very least turning a rather ugly shade of brown by the time its hot enough. I’ve tried it with your puree and with a super-basic one I made up myself, and had the same problem both times no matter how much I stir the syrup to keep the fruit solids from settling on the bottom. Any tips on avoiding burnage?
Mar 13, 2012 · 7:42 PM
@Erica, sorry to hear that you’ve having trouble with it! My first thought is that the pot you’re cooking in isn’t heavy enough. Do you have one with a solid, heavy bottom? Next, it may be that the heat is too high, which scorches the mixture as it cooks too fast. Does any of that jive with your experience?
When I make the strawberry marshmallows, they do take on a barely burned sort of smell (the unique smell of fruit sugars caramelizing), but no funky color and no scorched bits on the bottom of the pan. By the time the sugar mixture is added to the berry-gelatin mixture, none of the off-smell remains; they whip up into super-fruity mallows with a pretty pink color. Let me know what you think; I hope we can get to the bottom of your trouble!
Mar 14, 2012 · 6:17 PM
@StUbB135, oh goodness. I hadn’t even thought of that. I’ll double check at work tomorrow, but I’m 99% sure I’m using silver. So confusing!
May 09, 2012 · 8:40 AM
Hi Stella,
This is a wonderful post! I just had a quick question as I’ve never tried any kind of marshmallow before. Is a 3 qt saucepan large enough for making the basic vanilla bean marshmallows on the stovetop? I wouldn’t want that stuff to come out the pan
· Mel · goldentweety.blogspot.com
May 09, 2012 · 9:10 AM
@Mel, you know, I’ll have to go back and edit the recipe. I am not sure why I felt the need to say “largeish” when a medium pot would work well too. A 3qt pot would work perfectly. The pan doesn’t really need to be large at all. The mixture doesn’t bubble up very much, it doesn’t get big and fluffy until it’s whipped. Good luck!