Ever made your own marshmallows? Try these gorgeous pink and white confections! Plus there’s also a few tips to working with sugar.
Makes 12 cubes
Ingredients
280g white sugar
80ml water
1 vanilla bean, seeds removed
6 sheets gelatine, softened in ice water
5ml salt
Pink food colouring
125ml icing sugar
125ml corn flour
Method
- In a medium sized pot combine the sugar, water and vanilla seeds.
- Bring to a slow simmer and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring to a rolling boil of 120 ˚C on a sugar thermometer.
- Melt the softened gelatine sheets in a microwave. Using an electric mixer, beat the gelatine while slowly adding the hot sugar syrup. Add the salt and continue beating for 10-15 minutes until thick and white.
- Divide the mixture into two halves and add a drop of pink colouring to one half and mix. Pour each mixture separately onto a baking dish lined with icing sugar and place in the fridge until firm.
- Sandwich the two sheets together and cut into large cubes. Roll in a mixture of icing sugar and corn flour. Store in an airtight container.
Tips when working with sugar cooking
- Sugar is a natural crystal and will always try to go back to its natural form during cooking. Stirring a sugar mixture too much once it starts to boil will cause the sugar syrup to crystallize, rendering it unusable.
- Always work with care when melting sugar – it is very hot and can cause serious injuries.
- As a sugar syrup cooks, water evaporates, the sugar concentration increases and the temperature rises. Temperatures reached by the sugar syrup will determine the texture of the cooled mixture – these are known as sugar stages.
- When boiling sugar for candy-making, adding a spoon of glucose will prevent it from forming crystals and absorbing moisture.
