Marshmallow for Peeps
The thing about a Peep is, it needs to be able to stand up. The head of a Peep needs to stand fairly tall and the beak needs to stick out without drooping too much. Thus standard marshmallow isn’t really up to the task…the egg white and corn syrup make it just a bit too fluid. This one is pretty much just sugar and gelatin, which makes for a more erect Peep.
2 1/2 teaspoons gelatin
1/3 cup cold water
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
colored decorating sugar, pastel pink, yellow or purple
black food coloring
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let it soften. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and the (other) water in a small saucepan. Heat the mixture to dissolve the sugar and insert a candy thermometer. Heat it to 238 degrees Fahrenheit, then remove it from the heat.
Scoop the softened gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk. Pour in the syrup. Turn the mixture on low to stir the two mixtures together, then turn it up to medium high and start whipping. As the marshmallow begins to increase in volume, add the vanilla. Whip about 8 minutes until the mixture holds is “beak” on the whip.
Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with just the collar, no tip. Pipe according to directions — to be supplied soon!
My step daughter and I made these yesterday. It was so much fun and much easier than I thought it would be. I am so glad that you warned me about the smell, in your piping instructions post. I might have thrown the whole mixture away had you not warned me, as me gelatin was a little aged (ok, a lot aged, but how can it go bad, right?).
Is there any way i could make marshmallow without the thermometer?
You can try, JP! Simmer the syrup for about eight minutes, that should put you in the ball park, as it were. Good luck!
– Joe