Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Homemade marshmallows: The conclusion

A couple of people (close friends, not random strangers) have inquired about my marshmallows. Did they turn out okay? If so, would I be so kind as to make a batch for an upcoming birthday?

I feel guilty about leaving you with a cliffhanger on my last post. I didn't realize anyone actually read entire posts on here. Thank you for proving me wrong.

So, let's close the chapter on the homemade marshmallows. Together.

I cut into the pan of marshmallows last night. I expected something gooey and unwieldy, a big mistake. This one time I made peppered pecans using both of my baking sheets and somehow completely destroyed both pans (after setting off the smoke detector, twice). The combination of an unchecked oven and the thick glaze of sugar and butter on the nuts may have had something to do with it--anyway, I had to throw both baking sheets, half-blackened with molten confection, away. I imagined something similar happening to my knife when I cut into the marshmallows (but hopefully less ear-splitting): maybe a thick coating of quickly hardening sugar or something similarly horrifying that would destroy the knife and therefore declare victory over my amateur candy-making skills. Marshmallows: 1. Katherine: 0.

But I was pleasantly surprised to find my knife glide (really!) effortlessly (yes, really!) through the marshmallows. And I could even peel them out of the parchment-lined pan, and dust them with a bit more cornstarch to make them less sticky. All of these things happened.

And then we had hot cocoa. With a giant, creamy marshmallow on top. And it was awesome.


Yum.


Feeling confident, I decided that I'd try one in my morning coffee today. I toted it to the office in a separate container and popped it into my mug after arriving (because I had to be able to watch the marshmallow dissolve in real-time). In about 5 minutes, I had a sugar-to-coffee ratio of about 3:1 and took one step closer to Type 2 diabetes. So I won't be taking a marshmallow to work anymore. My mug is far too small.

2 comments:

magnus said...

i have to say, i think you're being too hasty with the whole - "i'm not gonna bring marshmallows to work anymore" thing...

Katherine K. said...

But I don't have Magnuses like you in the office to eat them anymore.