Homemade Marshmallows

These! 

These are what I've been wanting to make!

Something overly festive that just screams "CHRISTMAS!!!" 

Perfect fluffy white marshmallows covered with red and green sprinkles.
They make me feel "♫merry and briiiiighhhhhtttt♫
(and my all your Christmases be white)''.

Marshmallows are surprisingly easy to make.
Some gelatin, lots of sugar and corn syrup beaten together for 10 minutes and voilà!
Marshmallows.

The advantages for making them at home are endless.
You can flavour them any way you want (peppermint, coconut, almond, rum.....), you can play with food coloring (use a toothpick to swirl in red and green) and you can shape them however your heart desires (drop them by the spoonful, pipe them into letters or swirls, or use a well-oiled cookie cutter to cut them out of a baking pan).

I've made marshmallows from Martha Stewart before and they were okay, but this recipe turned out much better.  I think the extra gelatin in the recipe made them firmer and less sticky than the former.

On hot chocolate, these look like fresh dollops of whip cream.

Impress your friends and family this christmas with these delicious marshmallows. (One word of warning: they can be quite sticky so don't be stingy with the icing sugar!)

Homemade Marshmallows
Makes: about 60 x 2'' square marshmallows
Source: Dinner with Julie

3 pkg (3 tbsp) plain gelatin
1½ cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup ( I ran out of light corn syrup and used some dark - it worked fine)
2 tsp vanilla, coconut, peppermint or almond extract
icing sugar for dusting
sprinkles (optional)
2oz melted chocolate (optional)

Directions:
1. In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin over 1/2 cup water. In a medium pot, combine the sugar and another 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer; add the softened gelatin mixture and stir until fully dissolved and hot to the touch.
2. Pour into a large bowl (if using a stand mixer, use the whip attachment), add the corn syrup and extract and beat on high for about 10 minutes, until the mixture cools and increases in volume until it is billowy, white and forms soft peaks (much like meringue).
3. Pour into a 9'' x 13'' pan lined with parchment and dusted generously with icing sugar, or spoon into a large zip-lock back, snip off a large piece of one corner and pipe shapes, letters or swirl onto a piece of parchment generously dusted with icing sugar. If using, decorate with sprinkles while marshmallows are still sticky.
4. Let cool completely. If desired, drizzle melted chocolate over marshmallows. If you need to, cut into squares using a well-oiled sharp knife.