Chocolate Covered Strawberry Marshmallows

I can't believe I have made it this far in my adult life and have never made marshmallows.  Several posts back I received a monthly goodie bag from Tell Tale Preserves and it had the most incredible pumpkin marshmallows in it.  The taste was fresh pumpkin, the texture was like a puffy cloud that melted in your mouth.  And if that wasn't enough they were coated in dark chocolate and rolled in cocoa powder.  My crusade this year is to re create something as perfect as those. Of course if anyone out there knows Chef William Warner and can twist his arm into sharing the recipe I would be forever in your debt. Do you have a never fail, OMG  these are incredible , marshmallow recipe?

  I found this one on Egullet, a great on line resource for all foodies. It is a website which is a service of the Society for Culinary Arts & Letters, a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to advancement of the culinary arts .

Strawberry Marshmallows
Ingredients
4 envelopes gelatin
1/2 c strawberry puree (frozen is actually better than fresh unless you have access to very flavorful local strawberries)
1-1/4 c water
3 c sugar
1-1/4 c light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp orange flower water (optional)
powdered sugar and potato starch for dusting

Line a sheet pan with a 1" rim with aluminum foil. coat the foil with vegetable oil or non-stick spray. Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment.

Mix the strawberry puree, orange flower water (if using) and 1/2 cup of the water in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the gelatin over to soften.

Put the sugar, corn syrup, remaining 3/4 cup water and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until it reaches the soft-ball stage (234-240 F).
With the mixer at full speed, pour all of the hot syrup slowly down the side of the bowl. Be careful as the mixture is very liquid and hot at this point and some may splash out of the bowl - use a splash guard if you have one. whip until the mixture is very fluffy and stiff, about 8-10 minutes. pour mixture into the foil-lined pan and smooth with an oiled offset spatula so that it's level with the top of the rim. Allow the mixture to sit, uncovered at room temp for 10 to 12 hours.

Mix equal parts powdered sugar and potato starch and sift generously over the rested marshmallow slab. Turn it out onto a cutting board or counter, peel off foil and dust with more sugar/starch mixture. Slice with a thin-bladed oiled knife or oiled cookie cutters. Dip all cut edges in sugar/starch mixture and shake off excess. Marshmallows will keep several weeks at room temperature in an air-tight container.

Chocolate Coating
1 lb of good quality chocolate-I used E. Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate-melted in a double boiler

Good quality cocoa powder for dusting.

Assembly
Take a baking pan and line it with parchment paper.  Sprinkle it liberally with cocoa powder. Dip each marshmallow in the melted chocolate and set on the cocoa dusted parchment paper (it will keep the chocolate from sticking to the parchment). When you see the chocolate has formed a nice hard shell around the marshmallow take each one and roll it in a bowl filled with sifted cocoa powder. Voila , sit back and enjoy. 

I have not tried the chocolate or vanilla  marshmallow variations yet, but after making these this is going to be my go to recipe for marshmallows.  Not to brag, but these were just as good as the ones I was trying to recreate. Not too sweet, the strawberry flavor was fresh and sweet and the bittersweet chocolate was a great compliment to it.  I ended up with approximately 6 dozen 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch marshmallows, not counting the ones J and I had to sample. If you are looking for a fabulous marshmallow recipe try this one you won't be disappointed.

Variation - Chocolate Marshmallows:

Replace strawberry puree and initial 1/2 cup of water in mixing bowl with 1/2 cup of cocoa dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water in a separate bowl. Soften gelatin in an additional 1/4 cup cold water in mixing bowl. Add cocoa mixture to mixing bowl and proceed with recipe as above. This will produce a marshmallow with a strong chocolate flavor, but somewhat denser than the strawberry version. To get a lighter texture as well as a lighter chocolate flavor, reduce cocoa to 1/4 cup.

Variation - Vanilla Marshmallows:


Replace strawberry puree and initial 1/2 cup of water in mixing bowl with 3/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract or the seeds scraped from 2 vanilla beans.