Having been in South East Asia for a month, we returned bleary-eyed to our loft in DUMBO pretty disorientated, me with a stinking cold that I picked up in Tokyo, somewhere between the train station and airport. I guess I am lucky that it hit me on the plane and not on the trip. But it made for a pretty miserable long-haul flight.
So the moment I am well enough to get into my kitchen (which now seems to me the absolute height of luxury having stayed with families with only a firepit and wok to work with) I made...marshmallows.
Why? Oh, I don't know, because I've never made them before. Because it was Susanne's birthday and we were having fondue. And what better to dip in the chocolate and red wine fondue than toasted coconut marshmallow squares? Nothing!
Michael was completely baffled by my desire to make them, but good-humoredly watched the temperature of the sugar syrup creep up to 240°F and then beat the scorching liquid with an electric hand mixer for 15 minutes. This is something you really should do with a standing mixer, I realized as I saw Michael's wrist quiver and smelled the burning from the hand mixer. As I pushed the pillowy goodness into the pan, Michael tasted the mixture out of the bowl. "It tastes like marshmallow!" he exclaimed. Result.
And they really did. Everyone at the party guessed that egg whites were an ingredient, but these guys are just sugar, corn syrup and gelatin. Yup, heart healthy. Well, ok, no they're not, but who cares.
Great idea rolling them in Coconut.
They may be full of sugar, but they're also full of protein, lol.
Posted by: Graeme | January 21, 2008 at 07:27 PM
I have been looking for a recipe for these - can not wait to try. Yours are beautiful.
Posted by: Chez Denise et Laudalino | January 21, 2008 at 08:39 PM
Hi there~ how was your trip... i was going to try to meet you guys somehow, but with Chinese New Year coming up, there is no way i can take off from work... well~ i hope to see you guys soon, have a great year and i must say your blog brings me a great deal of inspiration+joy
speak soon :)
Posted by: Charlotte | January 21, 2008 at 10:11 PM
So glad I found you--this looks so good! Marshmallows, toasty coconut...what is NOT to love here?
Posted by: Cakespy | January 21, 2008 at 10:28 PM
It's just unbelievable how full of bad chemistry store-bought marshmallows are, but at the same time they're so pure-hearted when made at home! Last year I made marshmallows for Valentines day and got ask a zillion times if I really made them myself and if it really is possible:D When actually - they're super easy!
I really like the addition of coconut. The extract isn't sold here in Estonia, but I guess adding Malibu liqueur could work as well.
Posted by: Evelin | January 22, 2008 at 12:04 PM
The trip was amazing Charlotte – I'm still downloading the 50GB of images we took, but I will be posting some soon!
I really need to stop eating these things, but they really are very good. And they're easy, so you guys should definitely try making them.
The vanilla extract works well in flavoring the marshmallows and the recipe only calls for very little coconut extract. Perhaps a dash of Malibu would do the trick!
Posted by: natasha | January 22, 2008 at 12:41 PM
Hi, they looked just like the one i tasted once and immediately fell in love with ... just curious ... do you mind if i asked for the recipe? or do you know where else i could get the recipe?
Thanks a lot. :)
Posted by: LostSoul | February 12, 2008 at 10:27 AM
I included the recipe as a link – just click on the link that is in blue and says "toasted marshmallow squares", it will take you to the recipe on Epicurious.
Posted by: natasha | February 12, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Got it, thanks a lot!!
Posted by: LostSoul | February 12, 2008 at 09:43 PM