We’re finally in December and these Maple Marshmallows should definitely be on your festive baking list! Making homemade marshmallows might seem like a lot of effort, but if you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out. They’re fluffier, more delicious and toast up a treat. Plus, they’re ideal for gifting at this time of year – and with this recipe yielding around 36-40 marshmallows, there are endless possibilities. This recipe is crammed with caramel-y 100% Pure Canadian Maple Sugar and Golden Maple Syrup for a delicately sweet flavour that can’t be beaten at Christmas. Remember to read the full recipe from beginning to end before starting, and take safety seriously when working with hot sugar and corn syrup.
This post is kindly sponsored by Maple From Canada UK.
What equipment do you need to make these Maple Marshmallows?
There are a few key pieces of equipment you’ll need to make these Maple Marshmallows, some of which are crucial for safety (like a metal bowl and oven gloves). Here’s what you’l need:
- Sugar thermometer. The first thing to remember is a sugar thermometer that tells you where the soft-ball stage is!
- Dough scraper. Equally important in the kitchen will be a plastic dough scraper of any kind for the purpose of making it easier to scrape your marshmallow fluff into your tin. Ideally, you’ll want one with a curved edge, but you can also use a rubber spatula for instance if you don’t have one.
- 9 x 13 inch high-sided tin. Unquestionably required for this recipe. I like Nordicware’s tin with a lid.
- Large metal bowl. I prefer a metal bowl to a glass bowl owing to the fact that you’ll be pouring hot sugar syrup into it.
- Heavy duty / cast iron saucepan. Something like a Le Creuset saucepan, for example, would work well, but any brand that is heavy duty will work a treat.
- Oven gloves. Something to protect your hands and arms from heat is essential.
- Electric whisk or heavy duty stand mixer.
- Chef’s knife. You’ll ideally want a large knife in particular, rather than a paring knife, which will easily cut through your marshmallows.
- Sieve. For the purpose of ensuring there are no lumps in your cornflour, be sure to sieve it before sprinkling into your tin and rolling your marshmallows in once set.
How can I serve these Maple Marshmallows?
If you’re looking for a festive way to gift or serve these Maple Marshmallows, here are 5 great ideas:
- Gift them! Wrap in cellophane bags and tie with red ribbon and holly.
- Add to homemade s’mores kits. Simply include digestive biscuits or graham crackers and some good-quality chocolate for an even more delicious edible gift.
- Add to hot chocolate. That melty maple flavour is the perfect combination with a hot mug of cocoa and equally as good in chai tea.
- Toast over the fire. Skewer your marshmallows and toast them for a fun festive activity.
- Make s’mores cookies. I have a great recipe here for these!
How do you make Maple Marshmallows?
It’s actually more simple than you might think, promise!
- Firstly, you boil your 100% Pure Canadian Maple Sugar and corn syrup to the ‘soft ball’ stage using a sugar thermometer.
- After that, you pour the hot syrup into your softened gelatin, and start whipping.
- The mixture will begin to go from golden/amber in colour to a bright while, pale marshmallow ‘fluff’.
- Pour the sticky marshmallow fluff into your prepared tin, and wait for it to firm up.
- Lastly, once the marshmallows are firm, slice them into cubes and dust all exposed edges with cornflour. As a result, this will avoid them sticking to one another. And, you’re done!
Did you know?
Maple syrup is classed based on its colour and flavour profile. The colours and flavours will change throughout the spring harvest and range from a light, delicate taste through to a dark, strong taste. Using the correct maple syrup in recipes changes everything.
Golden. This syrup comes from maple sap harvested at the very beginning of the season and has a sweet, delicate flavour. Perfect for topping yoghurts and ice cream.
Amber. A pure, rich taste and a magnificent amber colouring, this is fantastic for vinaigrettes and desserts.
Dark. This syrup has a more pronounced caramel flavour – perfect for cooking, baking and sauces and especially good for fruity dishes.
Very dark. This syrup is harvested at the end of the season and has a rich and distinctive flavour. Beautiful for sauces and glazes.
See how I made these over on Instagram!
Maple Marshmallows
Ingredients
- 333 ml warm water + an additional 167ml to soak the gelatin
- 36 g powdered gelatin
- 500 ml 100% Pure Canadian Maple Sugar
- 320 ml corn syrup
- 1 vanilla bean split and beans scraped out
- 2 tbsp 100% Pure Canadian Golden Maple Syrup
- 60 g cornflour for coating and cutting our marshmallows
- salted butter for greasing
Instructions
- First of all, get prepared: split and scrape your vanilla bean, then grease the 9 x 13 inch baking tin using salted butter.
- In a separate little bowl, sift your cornflour, to get rid of any lumps. Sprinkle about half of the dry ingredients into the buttered tin, so the powder sticks to the butter. Rotate and tap the tin to evenly coat the bottom and sides, then tap out any excess by turning the tin upside down over your bin or sink. N.B. You want a generous coating to avoid the marshmallows sticking to your tin.
- Butter your dough scraper or rubber spatula with butter, then set everything aside for later.
- Pour 167 ml of water and all the gelatin into a metal bowl. Stir together so the water will be evenly absorbed by the gelatin, then set it aside.N.B. The gelatin will soak it up and set, like a jelly. Don’t worry, we’ll melt it with the hot sugar and then whisk it together again.
- Attach your sugar thermometer to a heavy bottomed saucepan, making sure it doesn’t touch the bottom of your pan. Over a medium-low heat, melt the 100% Pure Canadian Maple Sugar, 333ml water and the corn syrup until the mixture comes to a low steady simmer. Do not stir it. Simply let the mixture mildly bubble until it reaches 240 F or the “soft-ball” stage on your thermometer. This may take a while – around 10-15 minutes, so be patient and keep watching your mixture. If you need to turn up the heat to get it there, do so slowly and don’t take your eyes off it.
- Here’s where you need to be really careful. Using an electric whisk, whisk the gelatin to break it up again. Add your pre-scraped vanilla bean, plus the 100% Pure Canadian Maple Syrup. Make sure your hands are completely covered with oven mitts and remove the sugar mixture from the heat. N.B. You can ask someone else to help by tipping the bowl with the gelatin in towards you at a 45 degree angle. Make sure their hands are also covered, and that there aren’t any children about when doing this.
- Pour the hot sugar syrup into the bowl, hitting the side as you go to avoid any unnecessary splashes. You want a slow and steady stream, until all of the sugar syrup is in your bowl.
- Turn on your electric whisk to its lowest setting. Be really careful to stand back from your bowl to avoid getting splashed with hot sugar. Whisk for one minute before increasing the speed.
- Slowly increase the speed of your electric mixer and whip for approximately 8-10 minutes, or until your mallow mixture turns white and looks thick and glossy. If they need to be whipped for a little longer, continue to do so until the outside of your bowl isn’t warm to the touch anymore. The mixture should be really thick, and very sticky – similar to marshmallow fluff (and not whipped cream).
- Once the marshmallows have reached the right consistency, take your pre-buttered dough scraper or a rubber spatula and scrape the sticky mixture out of the mixing bowl and into the 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Work as fast as you can to get it in the tin, as it tends to hold its form and set quite quickly. Use the scraper or spatula to even out the top.
- Let it set for about 4 hours. If you’re leaving them out for longer (like overnight), then cover with cling film.
- When you’re ready to cut them, sprinkle the other half of the cornflour evenly on top of the set marshmallows.
- Use a sharp knife to go around the edge of the tin and invert it onto a chopping board. You might need to use your fingers to get underneath the mallows before inverting the tin. They’ll be quite malleable and flexible so don’t worry too much about getting a bit tough with them to prise the mallow from the bottom of your tin.
- Once the marshmallows are out, measure up your squares using a tape measure and make small incisions to guide you on where to cut. Cut them into large squares with a sharp, buttered chef’s knife – the butter is going to help avoid any sticking. The sharper the knife the better.
- Keep your marshmallows in an airtight container for up to one month.
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