I always wondered how marshmallows were made – the puffy soft sugary goodness seemed like it would be elusively difficult to replicate in my own kitchen, so I always just bought whatever I could find at the local market whenever we wanted to make S’mores, or have a few in my hot cooca.  As my husband reminded me when I told him of my plan to make marshmallows last week, the first time I saw Alton Brown make them on TV one night, I incredulously stated it seemed pointless to put so much work into making something as simple as  marshmallows.  Turns out, homemade marshmallows really are THAT much better than the store-bought product.  And, they are actually incredibly easy.  Really easy.  Like, 15 minutes start-to-finish make-on-a-weeknight-after-a-long-day-of-work easy.  Bonus, they also use mostly things you already have stashed away in your pantry.  The most time-intensive part is preparing the pans, so your homemade marshmallows don’t stick.  They take very little cooking, and I’m pretty sure they are fool proof.

This year instead of making cookies for family and friends, I opted to make homemade hot cocoa mix and homemade marshmallows for gifts.  The best part is you can flavor them however you want – I chose to make candy cane marshmallows, and vanilla bean marshmallows.  They came out beautiful, and they are super tasty.

Homemade Marshmallows – from MarthaStewart.com

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3 (1/4-ounce) packages unflavored gelatin
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• Confectioners’ sugar, sifted (to coat)

Prepare 2 9×9 square baking dishes by coating with cooking spray.  Line each with plastic wrap, and then spray the plastic wrap with cooking spray as well.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large bowl, with a hand mixer nearby), place 1/2 cup cold water and the gelatin.  Let soften for about 10 minutes.  In the meantime, in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, place sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt.  Bring to a full boil, stirring occasionally.  Boil for about 1 minute.  Remove from the heat.  With your stand mixer on high (or hand-mixer on high), slowly drizzle the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl.  Add the vanilla extract and the vanilla bean seeds.  Mix on high for 10-12 minutes.  Spray a rubber spatula with cooking spray, and working quickly use the spatula to transfer the warm marshmallow to the baking dish.  Spread evenly in the pan.  Let sit for at least 2 hours (up to 24 hrs).

Remove marshmallows from the pan together with the plastic wrap to a cutting board lightly dusted with confectioners’ sugar.  Peel away the plastic wrap from the side.  Spray a pizza cutter with cooking spray.   Cut marshmallows into 1.5 inch wide strips.  Then cut each strip into 1.5 inch pieces, to form cubes.  Toss with sifted confectioners sugar, and keep in an airtight container.

Candy Cane Marshmallows – adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Follow recipe as above, omitting vanilla extract and vanilla bean.  Instead, add 3/4 tsp peppermint extract.  Transfer quickly to the prepared pans and spread evenly.  Add drops of food coloring (I used red and green) on top of the marshmallows.  Using a bamboo skewer, swirl the food coloring through the marshmallow.  Let sit as above, and then slice as above.  Enjoy!

This post is dedicated to one of the easiest recipes I’ve ever made – not sure it even should count as cooking – but yet adds a fabulous extra vanilla dimension to my baking.  I love it for many reasons – first, it cuts down on waste.  When you use a vanilla bean, most recipes (such as my recent vanilla bean cupcake recipe) direct you to slice the pod in half and remove the seeds – often times, the pod itself isn’t needed, and you may be tempted to just discard it…but don’t!  With next to no effort, you can turn that would-be discarded pod into something delicious.  Use as you would use plain sugar in your favorite baked goods…and it’s also great in coffee. 

Vanilla Sugar – Alton Brown

• 1 vanilla pod, halved with seeds removed
• 2 cups sugar
• Airtight container

Place vanilla pod into container and pour sugar over top, burying the vanilla bean.  Seal container and let sit for 1-2 weeks.  Enjoy in coffee or give your favorite recipes a little something extra.

Since I made my Vanilla Bean Ice Cream a few weeks ago, I had one lonely vanilla bean lying around in my kitchen, just waiting for a worthy recipe to come along – when I saw this cupcake recipe on Annie’s Eats that sounded fantastic and decided to give it a whirl!  Happily, I had a big end-of-year picnic coming up for work which was about the perfect occasion to make a bunch of cupcakes without my husband and I having to eat them all.  There are not words for how fantastic this recipe came out – the batter was thick and creamy and the cake is light and moist.  I frosted them with a plain vanilla buttercream frosting – usually I shy away from buttercreams, as I find them a bit too rich for most of my recipes – but it accented the vanilla cake really well.  This was also my first adventure with gel food coloring in my frosting – a bit of advice, a little goes a LONG way!  I used about 1/4 tsp to color this entire batch of frosting!  (I used Teal, btw.)  Also, a plug for my favorite decorating device – The Pampered Chef makes an amazing decorating gun – looks a little like you should be using it to caulk a window frame or something, but it is incredibly easy to use and makes my baked goods like professional in no time flat.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes – from Annie’s Eats

3 cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1¼ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Prepare cupcake pans with paper liners.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Take your vanilla bean halves and scrape the pods to remove the beans – save the pod to make vanilla sugar later – but that’s for a different post.)  Add the butter and the vanilla beans to the bowl of your trusty stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment – or, if you have one a bowl-scraping paddle attachment which is the best kitchen investment I’ve made this year), and beat on meadium speed until the mixture starts to appear light and fluffy; about 2-3 minutes.  If you don’t have a paddle attachment that scrapes for you, scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat for about another minute to ensure adequate mixing.  Add the sugar gradually, 1/4 cup at a time, beating for about a minute after each addition.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until the egg is incorporated.  (Scrape down the bowl between additions here too!)  In a large measuring cup, mix the buttermilk and vanilla together.  As your mixer continues to run on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients to the butter mixture - alternating between each, and beginning and ending on the dry.  Scrape down the sides again to make sure everything is well incorporated and mix for about 15 seconds longer – be careful not to overmix!  Place the batter into the prepared cupcake pans, filling each liner about 2/3 of the way – this batter is quite thick, so try to get all the bubbles out of the bottom of the cups when you fill them!  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely and frost as desired – enjoy!!

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting – also, from Annie’s Eats

20 tbsp. (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk

Add the softened butter to your stand mixer bowl and beat on medium high for about 30 seconds or until smooth.  Add the sugar and salt and mix to incorporate – start slow or else your entire kitchen will be covered in powdered sugar!  When the sugar has been completely incorporated (you will probably have to scrape down the sides to get this accomplished), add the vanilla and milk – mix on low for 10-15 seconds.  If you’re planning to use food coloring, this is when to add it!  Increase the speed to high and beat for 4-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy appearing.  Frost away!