Yield: 2 Cups
Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix
Not many recipes are easier than this one. Just through everything in the food processor and whiz it up until it looks like hot chocolate mix and that's it! Then you just do what you normally would: heat up some milk, stir in the mix, drop a marshmallow in it and call it a day. Cheers.
Prep Time
5 minutes
Ingredients
- 7oz/200g/1 C + 2 T Finely Chopped Baking Chocolate or Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips, frozen
- 35g/1/2 C Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
- 130g/1/2 C Granulated Sugar
- 10g/1 TBS Cornstarch
- Pinch of Kosher Salt
Instructions
- Put the frozen chocolate in the food processor and blend until totally powder.
- Add the other ingredients and pulse to combine.
- To serve: bring two cups (16 oz) of milk to a boil in a small pot and whisk in 2-3 heaping table spoons of mix. Return to a simmer, whisking constantly until chocolate is dissolved and liquid is very slightly thickened. Pour into two mugs and enjoy. Alternately, heat milk in mugs in microwave and then stir in mix. It will still taste great but it won't thicken up at all and some of the mix will settle at the bottom.
Notes
Try experimenting with additional flavors like cinnamon, cardamon or dried mexican chiles.
Mix will keep in the fridge for 1 month.
Yield: 18-20 Large Marshmallows
Homemade Marshmallows
Full disclosure, this is a recipe to make once and then move on with your life because making marshmallows could be a big mess. But once you get over the clean up hurdle, there is no denying how a homemade marshmallow blows any mass produced store bought varieties out of the solar system. These are creamy and silky and melt if you just look at them the wrong way. Along with our homemade hot chocolate mix, these are the perfect treat/project for a snowy weekend.
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Additional Time
2 hours
Total Time
2 hours 40 minutes
Ingredients
- non stick cooking spray
- 3 Envelopes / 2 TBS + 1.5 tsp Unflavored Powdered Gelatin
- 302g / 1.5 C Granulated Sugar
- 340g / 1 C Light Corn Syrup
- Two Pinches of Kosher Salt
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1.5 C Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 C Cornstarch, optional
Instructions
- If using cornstarch, stir together with powdered sugar in a large bowl (see note)
- Lightly spray a 8" square baking dish with cooking spray then dust with powdered sugar mix.
- In stand mixer with whisk attachment, add 1/2 C cold water. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over the top. The gelatin will dissolve on it's own.
- In a small pot, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 C water. Stir just to combine. Try to avoid splashing the sides of the pot as this leads to crystallization in the cooked sugar. If using a candy thermometer, position it in the pan now (see note).
- Place the pan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Do not stir but ever few minutes gently swirl the pan to ensure the sugar and syrup cook evenly.
- Cook until the temperature is 240 F (soft ball stage). See note for alternate method of testing when the sugar is ready. When the temperature is at 235, turn the mixer on low (speed 2 or 3).
- Once 240 degrees, slowly but consistently stream the hot sugar into the gelatin. The speed of the pour should be the same way you pour syrup on pancakes. Not everything all at once, but not so slow that only a thin trickle is coming out. We need to work relatively quickly because the syrup will cool and harden quite quickly.
- Once all of the syrup is in the bowl, add the vanilla, salt and any coloring or flavors (see note) and increase the speed of the mixer to the highest setting. Continue beating the mixture until it is thick, opaque (white) and sticky. Once at this stage, try to transfer into the prepared dish while still warm. The marshmallow gets increasingly stubborn to work with as it cools down.
- Tap the baking dish on the counter and smooth the top of the mixture with a knife or spatula sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly dust the top surface with powdered sugar mixture.
- Cool on the counter 30 minutes then transfer to the fridge for an hour or two to cool completely and firm up.
- Dust a large cutting board with powdered sugar. Unmold the marshmallow on top.
- Spray a large sharp knife with cooking spray and cut the marshmallow into large squares. If the knife starts sticking, give it a coating of powdered sugar or reapply the cooking spray.
- Once all marshmallow is cut, dust liberally with powdered sugar and toss to coat.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days.
Notes
- Coating the marshmallows with a mix of cornstarch and sugar will make them easier to handle and hold up better when moved around but using just straight powdered sugar tastes much better. Try both and see what you prefer.
- If you don't have a candy thermometer, prepare a small bowl with ice water and keep it next to the stove where you are cooking the sugar syrup. After 10 minutes of boiling, start testing the mixture for readiness every 5-7 minutes. Dip a clean spoon into the syrup and drop a small bead of syru into the ice water. Pull it out after a couple seconds and give it a squeeze. We want something the texture of silly putty - firm enough to hold a ball but still soft enough that we can squish it with our fingers. If you accidentally cook the sugar too much you'll just need to start again.
- If you want to color or flavor (peppermint, cinnamon) the marshmallow, add food coloring or flavor extract to the bowl after the syrup is fully incorporated. Note that excessive amounts of gel food coloring taste gross. Less is more.
- Cleanup can be annoying but to make it a bit easier, fill your pot from the cooked sugar with water and bring to a boil. The cooked on sugar will dissolve easily. Now bowl this over your whisk in the bowl for the mixer and everything should melt away pretty quickly.