Fluffy Deliciables.....Otherwise known as Vanilla Marshmallows

Been in a funk today. The kinda funk that makes me want to bake.....but I'm out of butter. So that means something else. Looking in the cupboard I found glucose syrup and a vanilla bean....this means marshmallows!

I got my recipe off the Martha Stewart website. Does anybody else like that woman more since her incarceration? I know I do. She make these fluffy little bites with peppermint oil in some and vanilla bean seeds in the others. I think peppermint and marshmallow is weird, so I made the vanilla ones, using my trusty vanilla bean paste. I love that stuff, it's so much cheaper and you still get a fantastic vanilla flavour.

The only things I changed was converting her 'sachet' measurement to a tablespoon amount, and using vanilla bean paste instead of seeds from a pod.

Vanilla Marshmallows

Equipment: You'll need an electric beater with bowl and whisk attachment. Cup and tablespoon measures. A saucepan and wooden spoon. And a well greased pan, I use glass and find it very good.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp unflavoured gelatin

1/2 cup cold water plus an extra 1/4 cup

2 cups caster sugar

2/3 cup glucose syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract plus seeds from a vanilla bean (you could substitute another flavour here, any sort of flavour oil will work)

Icing sugar

1. In the bottom of your mixing bowl pour 1/2 cup of water and sprinkle over the gelatin. Then leave it alone. The gelatin needs to soak up the water and activate so that it will set. This is called 'blooming'

2. In the saucepan mix the sugar, extra water and glucose syrup. If you were to colour the marshmallows now would be when I would add the colour. You need to bring this mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve, this should only take a few minutes.

3. Very carefully take the saucepan off the stove, turn the mixer on to low speed. Gently pour the boiling hot sugar mixture into the the gelatin. Do this slowly otherwise you'll have extremely hot sugar splatter your kitchen.

4. Once you have added the sugar, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides. Turn the mixer back on and switch to medium speed.

5. As the marshmallows cool turn the speed up on your mixer. After about 10 minutes everything should have fluffed up and be nice and shiny.

6. Turn off the mixer and pour everything into your prepared greased pan, make sure you scrape the sides to get every last bit.

7. Allow the marshmallows to cool in the pan for about 2 hours, I have found on very humid days I need to put it in the fridge to get it to set properly.

8. Now come the fun messy bit! Make sure your work space is clean, and sprinkle a decent amount of icing sugar down, about 4 tablespoons. Then tip your marshmallows upside down on top of the sugar. Have faith! If you've boiled the sugar right and let it set properly everything will be fine. Sometime you may need to run a knife around the edge to release the seal.

9. Cut the marshmallows into squares with a pizza cutter dredged in icing sugar, and coat each cut square liberally with sugar. Store in an airtight container in your pantry for up to 1 week.