Homemade Marshmallows: Earl Gray & Lapsang Souchong Salted Caramel

• Line a 13x9x2 inch pan with parchment paper or foil. Coat lightly with nonstick spray. Bring the 1.5 cups of water to a boil and add the Earl Gray (variations: 2 T dried lavender or hibiscus or 1 T of a different tea). Remove from heat and steep covered 10 minutes (I steep for 30 minutes if using dried flowers).
• Strain and measure a 1/2 cup of the tea into a bowl and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until very cold. Measure another 1/2 cup of tea into a heavy medium saucepan. Discard extra tea (or drink it!).
• Once the tea is chilled, pour it into the bowl of heavy-duty mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Sprinkle gelatin over water. Let stand until gelatin softens and absorbs water, at least 15 minutes.
• Combine 2 cups sugar, corn syrup, salt, with the tea in the saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Attach a candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat and bring syrup to boil. Boil, without stirring, until syrup reaches 235-240ºF, about 8 minutes.
• With mixer running at low speed, slowly pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture in thin stream down side of bowl (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk, as it may splash). Gradually increase speed to high and beat until mixture is very thick and stiff, about 15 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract if using and beat about 30 seconds longer. It will be voluminous & white, begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl, and will fall very slowly in a thick ribbon when the whisk is lifted when done.
• Scrape marshmallow mixture into prepared pan with a wet spatula, work quickly as it gets harder to work with if it sits. And by harder I mean almost impossible. Smooth top with wet spatula. Let stand uncovered at room temperature until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.
• Sift corn starch and powdered sugar together in a bowl. Sift generous dusting of starch-sugar mixture onto work surface, forming rectangle slightly larger than 13×9 inches. Turn marshmallow slab out onto starch-sugar mixture; peel off parchment or foil. Sift more starch-sugar mixture over marshmallow slab.
• Coat large sharp knife (or cookie cutters) with water or nonstick spray. Cut marshmallows into squares or other shapes, keeping knife wet or coated. Toss each in remaining starch-sugar mixture to coat. Transfer marshmallows to rack, shaking off excess mixture. Store marshmallows in an airtight container. They will keep for about a week.

• Follow the directions provided above but skip the step of making tea and simply use 1 cup of cold water, divided. Let the gelatin dissolve in the one half, and make your syrup the same as above with the second half.
• Scrape 2/3 of the whipped mixture into your prepared pan and top with a thick layer of caramel sauce to cover and swirl gently with a wet butter knife. Scrape the other third of your marshmallow mixture on top. Smooth with a wet spatula.
• Let set, 4 hour to over night. Turn out and dust as instructed above.
• Alternative Swirling Method: After the vanilla has been incorporated to the fully whipped fluff, reduce speed to lowest setting and add 1 cup of caramel sauce (or your desired amount), quickly, shutting off machine as soon as you are done to just swirl.

Dipping Marshmallows in Chocolate

• Melt 4-5 oz chopped dark chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. To do as I do, producing a very handmade result, haphazardly dip marshmallows into chocolate using fingers or tooth picks and lie on wax paper lined baking sheets. Top with fleur de sel, a few tea leaves or lavender buds, or other decorations if desired. Place in fridge to harden, and remove from fridge about 10 minutes before serving. You could certainly get fancy and temper your chocolate, but I’ve yet to learn that skill. Yet.

• Bring cream almost to a boil, but not fully, remove from heat and add tea leaves, cover and steep 10 minutes.
• Strain into a measuring cup or bowl with a spout from which you can pour slowly. Add 1/4 tsp vanilla and stir to combine. Set aside.
• Melt 2 cups of sugar over med (between 4/5 on my ceramic cook top), stirring occasionally (ever 5-8 min or so) until melted. Do not stir vigorously, merely push the sugar around to make sure it all melting. Once it begins to melt steadily, I reduce the heat turn heat down to med-low (4). The sugar will look quickly look a dark caramel color as it melts. Don’t let this make you nervous. It isn’t burning.
• Note: Use your sense of smell, if it start to smell like it’s on the verge of burning but there are still a few lumps, go ahead and add the butter. You will strain it later. I have never found this necessary, and I would advice against adding the butter before all the sugar has melted unless it seems absolutely necessary to prevent burning.
• Once all the sugar has melted, add butter 1 T at a time, stirring constantly until all melted. The butter will bubble enthusiastically when added. Be careful. Once all the butter is fully incorporated remove from heat and stir in the salt. Slowly, very slowly, pour in the cream, stirring constantly until smooth. This will bubble even more enthusiastically. Stir away.
• Return to head and bring to a boil for about 2-3 minutes. I use a candy thermometer and let it reach about 230 degrees F. I have done it in the past without one and had no problems. Just let it boil for a bit to smooth out and then strain it through a fine mesh strainer into a heat proof bowl to cool. Resist urge to stick you finger in. You’ll burn the hell out of yourself. I would know.
• Also amazing swirled in ice cream or dissolved in an ice cream base to taste for caramel ice cream, used as a sauce on dessert, or pretty much anything else you can imagine that caramel would be good in or on! The resultant sauce is thick at room temp, firm when chilled, and liquid if heated for a few seconds.