Mary Dougherty Photography l New York Based Wedding Photographer » homemade marshmallows

: homemade marshmallows :

Mary Dougherty — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:50:49 +0000

Three years ago Matt and I were amazed at the idea that you could make marshmallows from scratch. So we decided to try it. It turns out they are much more fluffy and melt in your mouth than the store bought kind, and we were hooked. Along the way I got the idea to make them for all of my clients and send them out a Christmas gift. The idea stuck, and this week – for the third year in a row – I spent two days making, packaging and mailing out homemade marshmallows to all of the people I photographed this year.

In the past I tackled this project on my own and often found myself covered in powdered sugar late at night trying to finish up. For the first time, however, I had the help of some great friends and am so thankful to them… I should probably make them marshmallows too! We made approximately 400 marshmallows in both vanilla and peppermint flavors and each box contained a few of each kind. I also put a card in a each box that had a note on one side and a recipe for hot chocolate on the other.

Here’s a little look into the process of this year’s marshmallow making and packaging. I promise it is easier than it seems, but I suggest you don’t look up the recipe and just be impressed. I love to send these out and let all of my 2011 clients know how much I enjoyed working with them, but I want to let my blog readers know as well! That’s why I’m going to send out two more boxes of marshmallows to two lucky people who comment on this post. Comment once a day until Sunday at midnight – and the winners will be announced on this post in a comment on Monday. Merry Christmas!

Making Marshmallows 101

Mary Dougherty — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:59:37 +0000

There’s nothing like a good cup of hot chocolate. It’s been a favorite drink of mine for years and one that is even better once I started making marshmallows! This year I made a few different versions of marshmallows – some were pink with the peppermint melted into the syrup and some were dusted in peppermint and turned out more red on the outside. Either batch will taste delicious in hot cocoa although for future reference I’m going to stick with adding the peppermint into the syrup mixture. If you need a fun activity and want to make your own you can find the recipe I used here or follow along below. It’s by the ever insightful Alton Brown and I’ve include a few pictures of my process to help you see what marshmallow-making looks like.

part I: heating the sugar syrup to 240 degrees, the gelatin + water waiting in the mixer, and the oiled + dusted pan

Ingredients

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whp until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

For regular marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners’ sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

part II: whipping the gelatin + sugar syrup so it turns into marshmallow creme, pouring the mixture into the pan, and finally cutting the marshmallow into squares!

The process really is simple even though it takes a while to get everything finished. If you try them you’ll have to let me know what you think. While I’m talking about winter and holiday things, I thought I would include a few pictures of our Christmas tree which is decorated with some of the fabulous fabric garland I made for the baby shower earlier this year. I never knew fabric garland would be so useful, but it works perfectly and I would definitely add that to your list of winter projects. It’s basically the easiest thing to make, you just need to be able to sew two strips of fabric together in a semi straight line and then use scissors to cut the fringe! Okay I promise to blog more photos soon but I’m having fun with family and friends and I hope you are too!

::tis the season::

Mary Dougherty — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:54:42 +0000

to say thanks! If you were a client of mine in 2009, you probably recognize the card and these marshmallows and hopefully have received them already! I wanted to send something out to thank you since I really feel blessed to do something I love and share that with people. Thanks for keeping me in business and if you want to take advantage of the offer that was included in the card, you just need to contact me by january 15 and work out the details.

Well this is a busy time of year, in so many good ways since I’ve been busy spending time with family and catching up with some friends. I hope you’re able to do the same and had a Merry Christmas. We have a few Christmas traditions that we enjoyed and they include: eating tamales + posole on Christmas Eve, having homemade cinnamon rolls Christmas morning (matt and I started that tradition), opening presents together as a family and taking turns, and playing a rousing game of tripoly. Unfortunately we weren’t able to celebrate with our family in New Mexico but we missed everyone! I was, however, given a flip for Christmas (hooray! thanks Matt) so I took a lot of fun videos and of course there will be more in the future. I’ve included just a short one of my niece and our dog to show how cute they both are. Also, if anyone already has a flip what tips can you give me for using/editing? I have imovie, but it’s not that versatile so I might look into getting something else. Of course, I’m happy if I just have the regular videos as well, but it would be fun to edit them into masterpieces!

Well I need to stop blogging and go spend more time with my family – I hope you are able to do the same and enjoy!