Who says marshmallows have to be square? These little Marshmallow Dollops fit perfectly on a cup of cocoa, and look prettier, too!
This experiment marks the kick off of a little marshmallow spree I’ll be on all weekend. I figure once I get out the stand mixer and the gelatin packets I might as well go for it. I think homemade marshmallow are so worth the little extra effort, the flavor and texture is much better than store bought. One bite reminds you that marshmallows are actually candy, not the tasteless puffs we’re used to from the bag. These marshmallow dollops remind me of vanilla taffy.
I’m going to be honest, though, these aren’t easy to shape into perfect dollops. You’re going to have to prepare yourself for some slumped, misshapen heaps among the occasional perfectly swirled dollop. But if you can muster a little dexterity and a lot of tolerance for a sticky mess, you’ll wind up with some pretty cute little treats. I used my basic vanilla bean marshmallow recipe. If you want to you can just make them the old fashioned way, in neat little cubes. I think these have a whimsical charm, though, and are worth the sticky fingers.
Keep them for the kids’ cocoa, give them away by the bagful. These will come in handy in the next few months, I promise. I suppose you could sprinkle them with crushed candy canes, or dust them with cocoa powder for a variation. Sprinkles, too. There are lots of reasons to make these, but the main one is that making marshmallows is just plain fun. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and you end up with the silkiest glossiest marshmallow cream.
Once the marshmallows have dried a bit they can be bagged without sticking together.
how to use your marshmallow dollops
- The Ultimate Drinking Chocolate
- Butterscotch Steamer
- Peppermint White Hot Chocolate Mix
- Hot Dulce de Leche
- Hot Chocolate Mix Recipe
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Marshmallow Dollops
Equipment
- stand mixer or electric beaters
Ingredients
- 4 envelopes unflavored gelatin, (3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons)
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract or paste
- confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Lay out a large sheet of parchment paper on a flat surface and spray it with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, put 3/4 cup of water. Sprinkle the gelatin over it and let it sit.
- In a medium saucepan, put the sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Begin heating it, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Then stop stirring and let the sugar syrup come up to 238F. It will boil for a while before it gets there.
- Then, with the mixer on low, slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatin. Gradually increase the speed of the mixer until it is on high. Beat on high for about 12 minutes until the mixture is stiff. Beat in the vanilla.
- Pour the marshmallow into a piping bag fitted with a round tip.
- Working quickly, pipe little spirals, working from the outside in, until you have a nice dollop. Go on until you have used up all the marshmallow cream.
- Let the dollops sit until they are firm, several hours at least, depending on how dry your weather is. Dust them with confectioner’s sugar and carefully peel them off the paper. Dust the bottoms with confectioner’s sugar as well.
Notes
Nutrition
I love this shape and so perfect to gift for hot chocolate!
Is there a substatute for the unflavored gelatin? I have vegan family members.
Hi Judy— I know they do make vegan gelatin, as you probably know, but I’m not sure how it would alter the recipe. I did find these recipes online which look promising…http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/12/vegan-marshmallows-recipe.html
and
http://veganmarshmallows.blogspot.com/2009/04/vegan-marshmallow-recipe.html
good luck!
LOVE these: mostly because they’re adorable, but also because i can NOT make square marshmallows myself. i have tried and i have failed, an equal amount of times. 🙂 great recipe.
Arg yet another reason to invest in a stand mixture. I’ve been putting it off due to counter and storage space issues but I may have to bite the bullet! These would make the cutest christmas gifts! Totally feeling a rose and pistachio pairing for these!
these are adorable.
These look delicious no matter what shape they are in!
Hi Sue, Did you use a whisk or paddle attachment to do the mixing? Thanks.
I used the whisk, Julie.
I have to admit to secretly buying fresh marshmallows and storing them in a place known only to me just so I can have them all to myself – one here…one there. Whew! I feel so good about finally letting the secret out (wink)! Do you think these would pipe well from a regular, coated pastry bag? Thanks, Sue!
Cheers!
If you have good quality pastry bags you could use them, but the only issue I can think of is that this makes a large amount of marshmallow cream and it sets up fairly fast, so you have to work quickly. The bigger the bag, the better.
those are sooo cute! One of these days I’ll venture into making marshmallows
Danielle, just make the basic recipe that I link to in the post, it’s not very hard, and it’s really satisfying to make them.
Could you use peppermint extract instead of the vanilla?
Sure, or any other extract, for that matter. The peppermint would be great with crushed candy canes sprinkled on top.