very, very tasty!: Homemade marshmallows: A coming out story

I LOVE MARSHMALLOWS. I used to be ashamed to admit it. Growing up, when it came to s'mores, it was always the chocolate that disappeared faster than the graham crackers and, yes, the bag of jet-puffed marshmallows. When the other kids were sneaking squares of Hershey's around the campfire, I, of course, joined them. I did it to fit in, to be like everyone else. But it was actually the bag of marshmallows I wanted to cradle and consume, not those waywardly melting squares of chocolate that smeared all over our hands and mouths like we were recklessly stuffing ourselves with mud.

After all, chocolate comes in all sorts of things. You could, technically, have it in every meal. Chocolate chip pancakes. A mole burrito. Chocolate-marinated steak. Don't even get me started on desserts.

But marshmallows? Marshmallows are something rare. Sorry, chocolate. You're kind of regular, especially compared to a fluffy, spongy marshmallow. You lose.

And then there was that moment when I discovered vegan marshmallows. It was probably at the natural foods co-op I worked at in college--that place exposed me to a lot of things. You can read between the lines on that one if you want. Anyway, these vegan marshmallows were square. These vegan marshmallows were delicious. These vegan marshmallows meant that marshmallows were not some weird Kraft Foods creation meant to push you ever closer towards obesity--marshmallows could be made in a million different ways. Marshmallows could be made by you (and some agar-agar, whatever that is).

So it was always in the back of my brain to make marshmallows of my own, but I still wasn't out to the world about my secret. Last week, I was thinking about how I wanted to make something I had always wanted to make but had never made before (yes! I actually think these things!), and marshmallows popped up. I would make marshmallows. Finally!

I trolled the Internets to find a recipe and was disappointed that most included corn syrup (I'm over the vegan thing so the gelatin, another consistent ingredient, didn't bother me). I'm convinced that corn syrup and Kraft are in bed together. They laugh together about pushing people ever closer towards obesity, then they start making out. In my quest, I discovered other passionate marshmallow lovers like this guy. He seems pretty legit (former pastry chef at Chez Panisse and self-professed marshmallow enthusiast? Okay!).

So, maybe loving marshmallows isn't something to be ashamed about.

Maybe I shouldn't feel so alone in these desires.

Guys. I love marshmallows.

I bet what you really want to know is not that, though. I bet you want to know if I found a corn syrup-free recipe. And yes! I did. It's a marshmallow recipe that uses agave nectar. No corn syrup.

Did I make the recipe?

Yes! I did.

I copied it word-for-word (minus the confusing part where grey salt is listed as an ingredient but never shows up in the actual recipe), so I'm not going to re-post it. Go click that link and look at it yourself. And be warned that I haven't actually tried a finished marshmallow yet--I have to let them set a bit longer. But the warm marshmallow goo was really good and actually tasted like a marshmallow, so I'm confident. In the meantime, satiate yourself with some photos of the process.

This picture is misleading. You actually use egg whites (not yolks) in this recipe. You also use four eggs, not three.

The recipe also involves boiling sugar and the agave nectar to the "hard ball" stage. This means using a candy thermometer, but don't panic--it's not hard ("hard" as in "difficult," not "hard" as in "hard ball"). You just stick the thermometer in the saucepan with the sugary stuff, turn the heat to medium, and wait until the mercury hits around 265 degrees. Then you remove it from the heat. That's it.