It's a marshmallow world in the winter...

Yo, So this is my first proper post! 

I'm currently sitting stuffing my face with marshmallows and belting "Let it Go" out at the top of my lungs, because...well...I'm home alone and can do what I want. 

I've always wanted to try making these delicious sugary treats, and last night I finally stopped procrastinating and actually did something. So here is my epic journey to Marshmallowdom documented so you can try them too! This recipe is really simple, gluten and dairy free, and the total cost of ingredients comes to around £5, so would make a really thoughtful and cheap Christmas present dressed up in a jar. 

Ingredients:

• Two sheets of gelatin
• 8 tbsps of cold water
• 2 cups of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of cold water
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 2tsps of vanilla extract
• Icing sugar for dusting and coating the tin
• Something funky to shake your groove thang to whilst you're making them (there's a link to one of my playlists at the bottom)

Method:

In a small bowl, soak gelatin in 8 tbsp cold water, and set aside.

Combine granulated sugar and 1/2 cup of water in a large heavy saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until dissolved.

1. Add gelatin and bring to a boil.

1. Remove from heat. Pour into a large mixing bowl and let stand until partially cool. This should take long enough to send a message to your friends telling them how cool you are because you're making marshmallows, but not long enough that they can send a reply back telling you that you will never be cool, and look ridiculous in an apron. (thanks guys)

1. Add salt and vanilla extract.

1. Beat with an electric mixer until soft and doubled in volume, much like you would do when making meringue. This should take about 10-15 minutes.

1. Sprinkle a square cake tin with icing sugar, and pour the marshmallow mix in to it, at about 1/2 an inch thick, and set to cool until it will not stick to your finger.

Once they're set, cut them out into little squares and remove them from the pan, then put them in the kitschest Christmas jar you can find.

These turned out really well, and are ridiculously easy to make (minus the struggle of trying to clean melted sugar off of almost every surface in the kitchen, sorry mum). This is a really good base recipe for adaption, which is really fantastic for Christmas presents. The flavor possibilities for these are endless, but here are a few ideas...

• White Russian mallows- replace the vanilla essence for 2 tsps of Kahlua 
• Gin and Tonic mallows- replace vanilla with 1 tsp of gin, and 1 tsp of lemon or lime juice
• Raspberry mallows- replace vanilla with 2 tsps of fresh mashed up raspberries (this can be done with most other fruits too)

https://open.spotify.com/user/10enicol/playlist/0ok4dVVG51mRWxlTntCyMw