Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients

• Sunflower oil, for greasing 6 gelatine leaves
• 2 large egg whites
• 275 g (9¾ oz / 1⅓ cups) caster (superfine) sugar
• small pinch of salt
• 150 g (5¼ oz / ⅔ cup) water
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Cornflour (cornstarch), for dusting (optional)
• Icing (confectioner's) sugar, for dusting (optional)

Directions

1. Lightly grease and line a 20 cm (8 in) square tin and grease the greaseproof paper.
2. Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water and set aside to soak.
3. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a free-standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of the caster sugar and a small pinch of salt, but don't whisk yet.
5. Combine the remaining caster sugar with the water, golden syrup and honey in a medium saucepan. Place over a high heat and bring to the boil, then simmer until the syrup reaches 115°C (240°F) on a sugar thermometer. Remove the pan from the heat. Working quickly, whisk the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form. Drain the softened gelatine and stir into the warm syrup mixture, whisking together until dissolved and fully combined. Slowly, with the mixer on a medium speed now, pour the syrup in a steady stream into the meringue.
6. The mixture will grow in volume quite quickly. Once fully added, increase the speed to high and whisk for a further 5 minutes until thick and glossy. The bowl should no longer be hot to the touch. Pour into your prepared tin and gently level off the marshmallow with a palette knife.
7. Allow to cool completely at room temperature before covering with a thin coat of oil. Press another sheet of greaseproof paper on top then cover with cling film (plastic wrap and leave to set until firm, about 4 hours, though ideally overnight.
8. To cut up the marshmallow we like to use scissors or a large knife and hot water to clean them in between. You will find it is a sticky business. If you are going to be eating the marshmallow within the next few days, you can make a small mixture of equal parts cornflour and icing sugar to coat them lightly and prevent sticking, However, we found if you do this, they tend to dry out after around 2-3 days, Instead, cut carefully and store in an airtight container, making

   sure the marshmallows are arranged so that they don't touch and stick to each other. If they do, simply use scissors to separate again. You can store them like this for up to 2 weeks.

   GINGERBREAD

   Mix 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon allspice, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and ½ teaspoon mixed spice together. Add to the mallow mixture towards the end of whisking.

   CHAMOMILE

   Boil the water, before steeping 2 bags of chamomile tea in it until fairly strong. Remove the bags and proceed to make the syrup as usual. Once poured into the tin, sprinkle the top of the mallows with some dried chamomile flowers. Allow to set as usual but don't add any more oil to the top of the mallows.

   VANILLA

   Add 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste to the mallow mixture towards the end of whisking.

Recipe from "Aran" by chef Flora Shedden.