Baileys Marshmallows

The weather’s been insane here in Southern California. One week it’ll be in the low 50’s and rainy and the next it’ll be sunny and in the low 80’s. I don’t know whether to pack up my winter clothes or wear them. It’s nutty and also kind of annoying. But even with the temperature ping ponging back and forth one thing remains constant – the mornings are seriously chilly. And when it’s that cold, all I want is a big steaming cup of hot cocoa.

Luckily, I have the perfect recipe.  Now the only thing missing are two large marshmallows floating on top.

For the past couple years I’ve been watching as my fellow food bloggers do post after post on how to make your own marshmallows. It seemed like too much trouble for a mother of two toddlers. The Jet Puffed marshmallows suited me just fine. But something happened over the holidays. There were so many marshmallow recipes I couldn’t avoid it any longer, I just had to give it a go. I mean every single blogger stated how easy it was and that after you tasted a homemade marshmallow, you’d never go back. I’m here to tell you they’re absolutely right!

While making the marshmallows is a time-consuming endeavor, having sampled a marshmallow of my own creation pretty much guarantees I’ll never buy another package of Jet Puffed as long as I live. They were amazing. Soft, sweet little pillows that literally melted in your mouth. I finally understood why all my favorite foodies out there were making their own.

While the plain vanilla marshmallows I made were awesome, something was missing. Then I remembered  how much I like Baileys Irish Cream in my hot chocolate and I thought why not kill two birds with one stone? Instead of pouring the Baileys into my cocoa why couldn’t I infuse the marshmallows with that Irish creamy goodness? The result was just as good as I’d imagined – little fluffy pillows of Baileys deliciousness. And adding them to a big mug of hot chocolate? Oh. My. God. You can bet I’ll be making these again, especially if these chilly, rainy days keep up.

Baileys Marshmallows

(adapted from a recipe on Yummly.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 4 (1/4 ounce) unflavored gelatin packets
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3-5 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

Directions:

1. Grease bottom and sides of a 13×9-inch metal baking pan and dust all oiled surfaces with powdered sugar.
2. In a large bowl, sprinkle gelatin over cold water and let stand to soften.
3. In a heavy saucepan, cook granulated sugar, corn syrup, hot water, and salt over low heat, stirring continuously, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium and boil mixture, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 240°F. Remove pan from heat and pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.
4. Beat mixture vigorously until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, about 10 minutes.
5. Beat egg whites in another bowl until stiff peaks form. Then, fold egg whites, vanilla and Baileys into sugar mixture until just combined.
6. Pour mixture into baking pan and sift 1/4 cup powdered sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, for at least 3 hours and up to overnight until firm.
7. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Lifting up 1 corner of inverted pan, loosen marshmallow and let drop onto cutting board. With a large knife cut marshmallow into roughly 1-inch cubes. Sift remaining powdered sugar into a large bowl and add marshmallows in batches, tossing to evenly coat.

Because of the alcohol content, these marshmallows should be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator. In the fridge, they’ll last at least a week.