Marshmallows!

Marshmallows

Adapted from Ina Garten by Blue Heron Kitchen

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been fooling around with marshmallows. With determination, I’ve soaked gelatin sheets, separated eggs, substituted Agar for my religious and vegetarian friends, added booze to some and broke the bank, opting out of Betty Crocker red dye #4 for vegetable based food dyes to tint my sugar pillows.

Marshmallow 101: etymology: Marshmallow plants’ mucilaginous roots were used medicinally ( and presumably sweetened), in concoctions to help cure sore throats.  

In a casual marshmallow discussion with a passionate and talented baker, my colleague Rhonda asked if I was working with Ina Garten’s recipe. I’d been going nuts experimenting with both David Lebovitz’s and Nancy Silverton’s recipes, finally merging the best of both. David’s and Nancy’s recipes used raw egg whites and I wasn’t thrilled. Rhonda’s suggestion came just as I was about to pop open a bag of Campfires.

Ina’s marshmallows were perfection. And they’re fun. (Thanks, Rhonda!)

These are neither vegetarian nor vegan. Gelatin is a pork by-product. By replacing gelatin with agar (a seaweed extract), you’re good to flow. Go to a health food store, a kosher market or a good market, like Fairway (where I bought mine). If you can’t find it, go the Amazon route.

Here’s the poop: High fructose corn syrup, sugar and gelatin don't cure sore throats and they aren’t good for you. In defense of marshmallows, six ingredients that have the alchemic power to evoke childhood, complement hot or melted chocolate and bring joy and delight to anyone who simply looks, holds or tastes at one, should be labeled at food group.

Ina Garten is a world. I don’t turn to her recipes, but maybe I should.

If you have a candy thermometer (a digital one is a good choice) and an electric stand mixer, you’re in business.

Homemade marshmallows will make your hot chocolate worth the disgusting schmutz you just threw out your back shoveling. Slip some fancy chocolate and a few of these fluffy pillows between some graham crackers you’ve baked (see either of my recipes, updated or from July, 2012). Out with S’mores, in with S’mosts.

Plain are perfect. Use excellent quality vanilla extract. I’m a huge fan of Baldwin’s. It’s a small, family run business in Massachusetts. Theirs is a unique and rich vanilla, made in West Stockbridge, for generations. You can order it online and you’ll find it up there at their old-fashioned store and in local supermarkets.

I played around and added Grand Marnier (you could substitute Triple Sec), a little orange oil and some vegetable based food coloring to make pale orange adult marshmallows. You can use any liquor! Try Grand Marnier, Kahlua, Amaretto or Peppermint Schnapps marshmallows in your hot chocolate!

You’ll be surprised at how simple they are. Try making them with your kids! Keep the

boozed-up marshmallows out of their reach! Be creative with color, flavor and shape.

Above all, have fun!

jane

Marshmallows

Yield: 20-40 marshmallows, more or less, size is your call

Tools: Stand Mixer, fitted with wire Whisk, Candy thermometer

Ingredients:

3 packages unflavored gelatin/24g sheet gelatin

½ c. cold water (more if using sheet gelatin)

1 ½ c. granulated sugar

1 c. light corn syrup

¼ tsp. kosher salt

1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Optional: food coloring (India Tree makes plant based, natural dyes), ‘other’ extract, orange, lime or lemon oil (use VERY sparingly), booze.

Procedure:

Using a sifter or a fine strainer, prepare an 8 x 12-inch/ 20 x 30-cm non-metal baking dish by
dusting it generously with confectioner’s sugar. Set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, cover powdered gelatin with
½ c. cold water, making sure to cover all with water. If using sheet gelatin, soak the gelatin in
a separate bowl, in cold water. You will throw it into the stand mixer’s bowl and add 2 Tbsp.
of the water to the soaked sheets.

Using a small saucepan, pour in corn syrup, sugar and salt. Cook together on medium heat
until the sugar dissolves.

Using the candy thermometer, turn heat to med/high and cook the syrup to soft ball stage,
240º F/116 C, remove from heat.

With mixer on low speed, SLOWLY pour the syrup into the dissolved gelatin.

Turn mixer to high and whip until mixture is very thick, approximately 15 minutes! (If you’re
adding coloring, wait.)

If you’re adding coloring, after about 10 minutes, reduce speed enough to drop in coloring
until you’ve reached desired tint. Return mixer to high.

After five more minutes, add extract or other flavoring. If you’re using booze, start at a Tbsp.
and then continue, to taste or combine with some vanilla. For my Grand Marnier
marshmallows, I used about 5 teaspoons of liquor.

Pour the marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan, smooth the top and sift more
confectioner’s sugar over the top.

Plain

Grand Marnier

Allow to stand, uncovered, until they dry out. Overnight is best. I was able to cut and toss
mine in confectioner’s sugar after eight hours.

Turn them out onto a board and cut into squares (or desired shapes).

Toss them in a bowl with more confectioners sugar and then, using a sieve, shake them
vigorously to remove any excess.

Candy Cane Kisses

Candy Cane Kisses

From Masala Farm by Suvir Saran, with gratitude to Suvir,
adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

For Nancy

This recipe will make you look forward every year to the arrival of fresh candy canes in the market. I’ve tried substituting those “starlight mints”, the ones you get in bags at the pharmacy, but they're not as good. Candy Canes are a seasonal food choice.

Here’s a truc: Leave them in their wrappers and pound them with a heavy skillet. Snip them open. Ta-da!

I found Ghirardelli mini chips. They're inexpensive and they worked well. Of course, you can upgrade to higher end chocolate and chop it into small bits.

Meringues are child’s play if you’re careful meticulous when separating eggs. If any yolk gets into the white, make an omelet. If there's any trace of fat in the bowl you're using, on the wire whip or whisk or even on the dishtowel that you’ve used to wiped your mixing bowl, both you and your whites will weep.

Suvir Saran is a gifted chef, cookbook author and teacher, and several years ago, I had some great fun with him, socializing, traveling and eating. If you’re the tiniest bit interested about Indian cooking, buy his books. Even if you’re not interested in Indian cooking, buy this one, Masala Farm, which is a “farm to table” mélange of recipes that he and his partner, Charlie and collaborator, Raquel, published in 2011. Nominated for a James Beard Award, this gorgeous book is one you should consider owning. It’s Kindle-ready too!

These are fantastic, beautiful; and be advised, they're addictive. In a clear cellophane bag, tied with a ribbon or bakery twine, these make a great homemade gift!

Here are a couple of today’s, ready for their close-ups:

More recipes soon: 

Marshmallows! 

Updated graham crackers made with teff flour!

(just add a chocolate bar and what's that spell?) 

care, live well, work for peace (and gun control) and cook,

jane

Ingredients:

4 egg whites, size large, at room temperature (they whip up better at room temperature)

¼ tsp. cream of tartar

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

1 ½ c./300 g granulated sugar

3 Tbsp. crushed candy canes (8-9 minis)

8 oz./225 g semisweet mini chocolate chips (Ghirardelli or better, please)

            or fine quality chocolate, finely chopped

1 tsp. vanilla extract (I use Baldwins)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 240º F/120º C

Line three baking sheets with parchment. (If you don’t have three sheets, you must let the sheet cool before you use it again. If it's not your summer now, try putting it outside, or use it to prop open the window for five minutes.)

Using a Kitchen Aid or electric mixer fitted with the wire whip, or a hand mixer, beat the whites until foamy.

Add salt and cream of tartar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form.

While the mixer is running, add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. (Be patient and be careful. Today, the spoon hit the whisk and my reaction including some words I'm not printing.) You can crank it up to medium/high and beat the meringue until stiff, glossy peaks are formed.

Remove the bowl and fold in the remaining ingredients (crushed candy canes, chocolate and vanilla) using a rubber spatula.

Form dollops of meringue using a tablespoon or a small scoop (I used a small scoop and when it stopped releasing, I rinsed it with cold water.) Here, uniformity is cool.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, transferring sheets half way through the bake top to bottom, front to back. When the meringues are slightly cracked on the top, they’re ready to be fully cooled on wire racks.

These can be stored in airtight containers for about a week; and I've had success freezing them!

Yield: with the small cookie scoop, about 7 dozen. With a tablespoon, about 5 dozen.

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Adapted from Maurice Pastry by Blue Heron Kitchen

Thanksgiving may have come and gone, but pumpkin pie is never inappropriate during this time of year. When I was a partner in a wholesale bakery, we delivered 18 pumpkin pies for a Cheerios commercial. I had my 15th of a second of fame when I saw the take of a child's hand grabbing for a piece of one of our pies.

This recipe uses heavy cream .. not evaporated milk. Save the evaporated for the next superstorm.

It yields enough filling for 2 pies. Have all ingredients at room temperature. Be sure to use plain pumpkin and not “pumpkin pie filling”, pumpkin that’s pre-seasoned.

If you have leftover dough, roll it out and cut it into decorative shapes. Use a maple leaf or pumpkin shaped cookie cutter! Make a menorah, a dreidel or a Christmas tree! or, you can cut them into any simple shapes, say diamonds. Brush them with a little beaten egg and bake them at 350º on a sheet pan until golden brown. Beautiful.

Buy good quality heavy cream (organic, if you can find it), and canned (organic) pumpkin is fine. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's have house brands of organic canned pumpkin. Make sure your brown sugar is fresh and moist. The “dark” or “light” brown sugar choice is yours. “Dark” will make the finished pie darker and have a more ‘molasses-like’ taste. “Light” will let the pumpkin shout louder.

There are four egg yolks (in addition to whole eggs) that are called for. If you want a less rich product, you can just use two more eggs and forget separating the eggs. (But I wouldn’t.) Egg whites can be used for: an egg white omelet, or, if you’ve separated them well .. that means no yolk has entered the white .. then, use them for meringues, or freeze them (individually, in those wasteful ‘snack bags’!) and pull them out to whisk them for nice finishes on biscotti or other cookies.

And more bad news*:  Usually 18 oz. of pumpkin mean opening two cans. Suggestion: use the remainder for pumpkin soup! It’s so easy: dump it into chicken or vegetable broth (open a box of low sodium, organic pre-made if you don’t have or try getting some “Better than Bouillon” base. Add some (fresh, if you’ve got it) rosemary and if you’re feeling indulgent, some heavy cream (don’t let it boil!), some twists of the pepper mill, and bingo, this could be the first course for a festive dinner!

Whole Foods sells all kinds of ‘responsible’ and decent frozen crusts that have ingredients you can pronounce. Or, make a basic Pâte Brisée or Pâte Sucré pie crust. Below is Martha’s recipe for a basic pie crust. It works every time. The sugar is optional, but sugar works here as a tenderizer more than a sweetener.

Ingredients:

(this is for 2-9” pies)

6 eggs, size large, at room temperature

4 egg yolks, size large, at room temperature

18 oz. (canned, preferably organic) pumpkin

1 cup brown sugar

3 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 ½ tsp. cinnamon

¼ to ½ tsp. cloves (depending on how much you like cloves)

2 tsp. ground ginger

Procedure:

Prepare your pie crust(s): For a nice finish, brush the outer rim with beaten egg or beaten egg yolk – you can mix in a little heavy cream for a paler yellow finish. Nice.

Preheat the oven to 375º F. and pull out a FLAT cookie sheet or jelly roll pan to bake the pie/s on.

You can do this by hand or with an electric mixer.

In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients until well mixed.

Pour into prepared pie shells and bake until the center is ‘almost’ set, somewhat quivering, approximately 30-40 minutes. If the top cracks, don’t worry. Pumpkin pies tend to do this.

Cool COMPLETELY on a rack and then refrigerate for up to a day before serving.

Serve with dollops of slightly whipped, (not too sweet) freshly whipped (by hand is best) cream.

peace, love and pumpkin pie,
jane

*Here’s a little silver lining – since this recipe is by weight (buy a kitchen scale – you’ll feel
good every time you use it), you can weigh out other ‘pumpkinish’ products. Try baking any
winter squash (I like butternut or kobocha), puree it and use for your pies. You can use sweet
potatoes or yams, but you’ll have to adjust the sugar.

Pâte Brisée

Martha Stewart

Makes two 8- to 10-inch tarts or single-crust pies, one 8- to 10-inch double crust pie, or twelve 2 ½ - to 3-inch tartlets.

Ingredients:

2 ½ c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar (opt.)

1 c. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

 ¼ to 1/3 c. ice water

Procedure:

1. Put flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor.  All ingredients should be cold.  Add pieces of butter and process for approx. 10 seconds or till the mixture resembles coarse meal.  (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.)
2. Add ice water, drop by drop, through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky; do not process more than 30 seconds.  Test the dough at this point by squeezing a small amount together.  If it is crumbly, add a bit more water.
3. Turn onto a large piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disc.  Wrap and chill for at least an hour.
4. You know the rest.