Take a break from super-sweet holiday desserts with these lip-puckering treats. For easy handling, zest the lemon before juicing.
- Prep time 45 minutes
- Total time 4 hours & 45 minutes
Ingredients
Method
Grease 9-inch (2.5 L) square cake pan; line with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper; dust with some of the icing sugar. Set aside.
In saucepan, bring granulated sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil, without stirring but brushing down side of pan with pastry brush dipped in cold water, until candy thermometer reads 260°F (125°C) or 1 tsp mixture dropped in cold water forms hard ball, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat.
Meanwhile, in small saucepan, add lemon juice; sprinkle gelatin over top. Let stand until absorbed, about 5 minutes. Cook over low heat, stirring, until clear, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in lemon zest. Whisk into hot sugar syrup (mixture will bubble up).
In stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form. With machine running, gradually pour in sugar syrup, beating on high until increased in volume and cool, about 12 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Using food colouring, tint to desired shade.
Immediately scrape mixture into prepared pan. Using greased offset palette knife, smooth top. Dust with some of the remaining icing sugar. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature until firm, about 3 hours.
Lift marshmallow out onto cutting board; using greased knife and cleaning and greasing knife between cuts, cut into 36 squares, trimming edges.
In bowl, gently toss marshmallows with remaining icing sugar to coat; dust off excess. Transfer to waxed paper–lined baking sheet. Let stand until dry, about 1 hour. Using dry pastry brush, brush off excess icing sugar. (Make-ahead: Cover loosely with plastic wrap; store at room temperature for up to 7 days.)
Tip from The Test Kitchen: Adjust the amount of food colouring according to how bright you want the marshmallows, but do it one drop at a time—the colour can quickly become overly vibrant.
Makes 36 marshmallows.
Nutritional facts Per marshmallow: about
- Fibre 0 g
- Sodium 8 mg
- Sugars 11 g
- Protein 1 g
- Calories 51.0
- Total fat 0 g
- Potassium 11 mg
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Saturated fat 0 g
- Total carbohydrate 13 g
%RDI
- Vitamin C 3.0
