Pillows of Sugary...

Goodness.

Also known as Marshmallows, these little rectangular sponges of egg white, sugar, and Xantham Gum fill a very special place in my heart. It's been a while since I've had a good marshmallow. Yes, I can and do eat Kosher marshmallows (i.e. the fish-Gelatin bound variety) but some of my friends are stricter vegetarians than I and thus I have set out to devise a toast-able, spongy, satisfying vegetarian Marshmallow.

I found a few recipes: Here was an ebook of a number of unusually prepared foods focusing on textures. I didn't however use that recipe; instead I found one (listed below) which provided measurements in metric weights, so I used this converter to get simple volumes.

So here's my first go at

Vegetarian (Not Vegan) Marshmallows

4 (+/-) Tbsp hot water

Pinch of Cream of Tartar

1.33 Cups Granulated Sugar

11.66 or so Tbsp Light Corn Syrup (it's 3/4 cup or so, but that's about how much I used)

1/2 vanilla bean BUT I just used 1tsp vanilla extract as it's what I have on hand

3 egg whites

1/2 tbsp Xanthan Gum

Taking this recipe from Adventures of A Gluten Free Mom...

Ground Xanthan Gum with a tablespoon of sugar, set aside

Heat water, cream of tartar, remaining sugar, corn syrup and vanilla bean to 120° C. (248° F.) or until its bubbling and rising dangerously on the stove ( ;-) )

Meanwhile, whisk egg whites, about 2 minutes, until forming peaks

Continue whipping the egg whites at slow speed while slowly adding the hot syrup mixture to the egg whites.

After adding the hot syrup to the egg whites and while still whipping, sprinkle the xanthan gum/sugar mixture to the egg white/syrup mixture.

Turn speed up and continue whipping 2 – 3 minutes until the marshmallow pulls away from the sides.

Sprinkle a pan or baking sheet (Personally I used a 9x9 pan and the mallows are about 1 to 1.5 in deep) generously with cornstarch (or a mixture of Arrowroot Powder and confectioners’ sugar as I did) then add marshmallow mixture and spread out.

Top marshmallow with the starch from the undercoating on the bottom).

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to set in the refrigerator for 4 hours.

Maybe I'll just use a spoon...Nothing wrong with that.

Step 2

The mallows just didn't solidify like I'd hoped, but after rolling in more of the starchy coating I used before, they jsut might cut it as roasters.

They aren't round but cylinders are just the new square

Enjoy them toasted over a roaring fire, beside a dark chocolate bar and (for gods sake, fully whole grain) Graham cracker. That's what I'm planning on at least.