While visiting my sister who is at University in Reading we decided to make marshmallows, but not any old marshmallows. We wanted Prosecco flavoured marshmallows. I mean, Champagne would have been ace, but lets face it, Prosecco is a good start.
Not only were they great fun to make, there was a flubber like mixture at one point, the result was a delicious floral marshmallow! They weren’t as foamy and fluffy the as homemade marshmallows I have tried previously, perhaps because they don’t contain any egg whites. These actually have a similar consistency to shop bought ones and are great in hot chocolate too!
Now neither of us have ever made a Prosecco flavoured anything or marshmallows for that matter. Two birds with one stone, eh?
After trawling the internet for a while I was both mystified by the american recipes that call for “corn syrup” and the fact we don’t own a sugar themomiter.
Corn syrup is apparently similar to golden syrup or glucose syrup, but in my books they are both pretty different from each other so we scrapped all the american recipes. No cups, woo hoo!
As for the themomiter, well we’ve managed the likes of fudge and toffees without one before so we presumed we would be fine – we were, using the old glass of cold water trick, we boiled the syrup until it cooled into an almost hard ball – we got tiered of waiting after an hour of simmering (we were yet to get used to the induction stove in her fancy student flat).
I have left the recipe in its original temperature indicating format but if like me you don’t have a sugar thermometer simply keep a glass or bowl of cold water to hand and drop teaspoons of the syrup into it at different stages, you’ll know its ready when it starts to solidify into a soft ball.
And the recipe, well, I never found a british Champagne or Prosecco marshmallow recipe so we settled on this bbc recipe and simply substituted all the water for Prosecco.
Prosecco Marshmallow Recipe
275ml Prosecco
2 x 7g sachets powdered gelatine
450g/1lb caster sugar
1 tbsp sunflower oil
50g/2oz icing sugar, plus extra for dredging
50g/2oz cornflour, plus extra for dredging
Place the gelatine and 100ml/3½fl oz of cold Prosecco into a bowl. Set aside for 10 minutes, or until softened.
Meanwhile, pour the sugar and 175ml/6fl oz of cold Prosecco into a heavy-based saucepan and bring to a rolling boil on a medium to high heat, stirring continuously, until the sugar dissolves.
Reduce the heat to low and simmer the mixture gently for 15-20 minutes, until a sugar thermometer dipped into the mixture reads 113C/235F. (NB: At this temperature, the sugar syrup will have reached the soft-ball stage.) CAUTION: This mixture is extremely hot and can be dangerous. Do not leave unattended.
As soon as the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature, place the softened gelatine and prosecco mixture into the bowl of a food mixer and blend on its lowest setting. Gradually pour in the sugar syrup in a slow, steady stream, avoiding pouring the sugar syrup on the beaters as it may splash. Whisk continuously until all of the syrup has been fully incorporated in the mixture.
Increase the blending speed and blend for 18-20 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened, cooled and is beginning to set.
Meanwhile, grease a 20cm/8in square, deep-sided cake tin with some of the sunflower oil. Line the tin baking parchment and grease the paper with the remaining oil. Mix together the icing sugar and cornflour and dust the tin with a little of the mixture to evenly coat the base and sides. Reserve the remaining icing sugar and cornflour mixture for later.
Pour the marshmallow mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface with a palette knife or spatula that has been dipped in boiling water. Dust the top of the marshmallows with a little more of the icing sugar and cornflour mixture, then cover the tin with cling film and set aside in a cool, dry place for 1-2 hours or overnight to set. (NB: Do not chill in the fridge.)
Once the marshmallow mixture has set, turn out the marshmallow slab onto a clean work surface dusted with the remaining icing sugar and cornflour mixture. Peel off the parchment paper and cut the marshmallow into 36 cubes. Dredge the marshmallows in the icing sugar and cornflour mixture to coat, or coat one or more sides in the chopped nuts, flower petals or coloured sugar for decoration. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to three weeks.
We left our mixture for about 3 hours and tried cutting it up semi successfully, it was still pretty sticky and very stretchy, resulting in a LOT more than 36 marshmallows! We made ours pretty small though. We left half the mixture for the next day and it was significantly easier to manage!
