GeekMom Kitchen Alchemy: Make Your Own Marshmallows

“What’s this?” my son asked, waving a jar clearly marked Marshmallow Creme. It wasn’t a literal question; he can read. He was really asking me why in the world I was bringing such crap into the house. “It’s got corn syrup in it. The first ingredient!”

My holiday fudge is the best fudge ever*. The recipe calls for a jar of marshmallow creme. What’s a girl to do? I have to make fudge. It’s a holiday tradition.

Him: “Can’t you mess around with the recipe and leave out the marshmallow?”

Me: “It won’t be the same! You know how much you guys love my fudge.”

Him: “Isn’t there something else you can use?”

Me: “It won’t be the same!”

Him: “Can’t we make our own marshmallow creme without corn syrup?”

Me: “Actually, I do know where I can get a recipe like that…”

Him: “Let’s make some, then. That would be fun!”

And so we did. We used the recipe for corn syrup-free marshmallows from Frugal Kiwi. The boys measured out sugar, honey, and water into a pot, but once the sugar melted, the amount of liquid in the pot was laughable. The ingredients barely filled the bottom of our 8-quart pot so we switched to a small saucepan. The sugar mixture was a kind of ugly brown color the entire time it was cooking – not very marshmallow-y at all. The boys were a little skeptical, wondering if this recipe would really make very many marshmallows. Or if they’d be the right color.

Once we poured the hot liquid into my stand mixer and set it going, though, the mixture began to take on the expected white color. And it began to grow in bulk; by the time it was done, the bowl was half-full.

I put enough of the fluff into a jar to use for making fudge, and the boys spread the rest to cut into marshmallows. The result?

“Wow! These taste just like…marshmallows!”

You will need a candy thermometer for the recipe, but it really is very easy and didn’t take much time at all – half an hour, maybe? I’ll definitely make them again.

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*My fudge recipe was passed to me from a friend. It really is the best fudge recipe ever. People scoff when I say that, but only until they try it themselves. Then they come back to me and tell me I was right, which is always nice.