Hello fellow last minute gifters! I have your hail mary: marshmallows that taste like winter holidays. They get a piney, smokey flavor from a simple syrup made with peat smoked scotch whiskey and juniper berries. Sound weird? It’s not; they’re perfect for bobbing in winter hot chocolates. You’ll want to find the smokiest scotch your local liquor store has. I love The Peat Monster scotch for this recipe, but just ask for the peatiest, smokiest scotch they have. Can’t find it? Don’t sweat it; use water and have juniper marshmallows. Other than the scotch you’ll just need some gelatin packets from the store along with juniper berries (you can find them in the spice section at Whole Foods), sugar, and clear corn syrup. I originally developed & shot this recipe for a collaboration with KitchenAid, but this is my slightly updated version. Trust me, I’ve been making marshmallows obsessively for years…they were one of the first recipes on this blog! My favorite flavorings back then were Earl Grey Marshmallows laced with Salted Lapsang Souchong Caramel as well as Smokey Oak Marshmallows (another great way to get smokey flavor). You can check out those recipes (along with their horrible photos!) for more mallowspiration. For more DIY gift ideas you can check out our preserved lemons, granola, and balsam fir syrup. Anyways, I had these photos laying around from that shoot a couple of months back, and it seemed like the perfect time to share them for all my fellow procrastinators getting elfy this Christmas eve! It’s all my favorite things: marshmallows, marble, and hints of copper & pink. Merry Christmas!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups Water
- 1/4 cup peaty, smoky scotch like The Peat Monster
- 2 tablespoons Juniper Berries, lightly crushed with a mortar & pestle
- 3 1/4 oz packets of Unflavored Gelatin
- 2 cups Granulated Cane Sugar
- 2/3 cups Light Corn Syrup
- 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- nonstick organic vegetable oil spray
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Maldon Salt
- 4 Juniper Berries, ground to a powder
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Maldon Salt, crushed to get rid of any big pieces
- 1/2 cups Corn Starch
- 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Line a 13x9x2 inch pan with parchment paper. Coat lightly with nonstick spray. Bring the water to a boil and add the juniper berries. Remove from heat and steep, covered, 15-30 minutes. The longer you steep, the stronger the juniper flavor.
- Strain and measure 120 grams (1/2 cup) of the juniper "tea" into a bowl and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until very cold. Measure another 60 grams (1/4 cup) of tea into a medium saucepan along with the 1/4 cup scotch.
- Once the tea is chilled, pour it into the bowl of your mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Sprinkle gelatin evenly over the water, making sure all of it is wet. Let stand until gelatin softens and absorbs water, at least 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, with the juniper 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 235ºF, about 8 minutes.
- With mixer running at low speed, slowly pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture in a thin stream down the side of the bowl (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk, as it may splash)
- Once all the syrup is added, gradually increase speed to high and beat until mixture is white, fluffy, and very thick, 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 (or coated with the nonstick spray). Work quickly as it gets harder to work with if it sits. And by harder I mean almost impossible. Smooth the top with wet spatula, and let stand uncovered at room temperature until firm, about 4 hours or overnight if covered loosely with parchment.
- Once the mallow set, sift juniper powder, salt, 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 hot 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.
I used this as a base recipe–I had to make quite a few substitutions because our grocery store was out, but it worked marvelously! I did Lemon-Rosemary and Vanilla Bean flavors, but I can’t wait to find Junioer Berries and try this as-is! Thank you.
Beautiful photos !
I want to make marshmallows for such a long time now. The only thing is that I always forget to buy a corn syrup. This one ingredient. Your pictures are beautiful as always, so inspiring.
You make such a complete story every time … so beautiful …. thank you and have a healthy and prosperous 2017. !
You sure do love smoky flavor in your marshmallows!! I love that you are using marshmallows, not just as a big sugary sweet blob that melts into cocoa but as a means of infusing other flavors into the cocoa as well!! I recently discovered baking with Juniper berries and love infusing their flavors into all sorts of baked goods!! So delicious! I am sure marshmallows would be even tastier!
I know the holidays are over, but I totally still want to make these! I am a huge marshmallow fan any time of year…
xo
Phyllis
http://desgeulasse.com/
I like marshmallow a lot. I want to make marshmallows for my friends. Thank you.
What a lovely recipe! And I adore your style, the photos are so beautiful!
All the best for 2017,
Tatiana
http://thehappyjetlagger.com
Hello, do you think it’s possible to twist it a bit to make it vegan? I won’t eat gelatin but I used to loveeee marshmallows. Thank you for this inspiration
I’ve heard good things about carrageenan…can’t say whether it will work or not though!
I think you could use Agar (which is made from seaweed) quite easily. But follow the directions on the packet as Agar needs to be in boiling water to thicken while gelatin does not, so the process will likely differ somewhat
There are pictures for marshmallows but a recipe for steamed mussels with lemon. Where is the marshmallow recipe?
It’s been fixed! Sorry for the mix-up – our web host scrambled all our recipes!
Love the photos! Absolutely stunning! 🙂
Hello, can you roast them over the fire like the marshmallows from the store? Taking kids camping, thinking it could be fun to try to make our own.
I’m sure that would be delicious! Let me know how it goes!
Beth you’re a woman after my own heart! Just found your lovely blog, started these last night and finished them today. I subbed out the light corn syrup for a combo of Trader Joes agave maple syrup topped off with a some dark corn syrup. I was worried about them setting up but they turned out great. They’re sooooo delicious and a perfect 1st from scratch marshmallow project for a snowy day! I LOVE the flavor but I’m very stingy with my scotch (I used Laphroaig) – any suggestions for a more economical alternative smoky liquor for gifts? Going to try the tea flavored mallows next!