Day 25 - Liquor

I don't think I will ever get a day to sleep in. I was up early to drive my sister downtown and to walk Max. We got home and we were exhausted so we took a nap. I took him to visit Mr. VIP and all my old co-workers and he was an attention getter. Everyone loved him, they all wanted to keep him. He behaved so well, except for a little bit of barking, he would just sit down and take all the love he could.  He also did great in the car, just crawling to the floor and sleeping. We are still having the problem of chewing and nipping, I hope this is a stage he gets over quickly, as this is the only thing keeping him from wandering the house alone. Things are good though, no accidents in the house, no barking and great on his walks. Rico isn't the biggest fan of him, I took him out to meet Max and Max decided to lick Ricos face. He wasn't impressed, hopefully they get used to each other so they can be out together.

So I changed this challenge a bit, I know it say liquor, but I decided to use champagne instead. I love home made marshmallows. They are fluffy, soft, and not as sweet as store bought. Now I don't like dry wines, and am a huge fan of sparkling Rose's, so I used a pink champagne instead of white. You can use whatever wine you want. I have also included a plain marshmallow recipe for those who don't drink, or want a recipe for the kids. Now you can alter the plain recipe to any flavour you want just by changing the vanilla extract to another extract or juice.

Champagne Marshmallows

 1 1/2 ounces gelatin

11 ounces champagne
11 ounces corn syrup
16 ounces champagne
28 ounces sugar
1/2 tsp salt
optional: 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod reserved for another use
optional: 1/4 tsp rose flower water
Ample powdered sugar for dusting

Have a lightly greased 9”x13” pan, lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar, at the ready.

Combine the gelatin and 11 ounces of champagne together in the bottom of a stand mixer bowl. Set aside.

Pour sixteen ounces of champagne into a medium pot and place over medium-low heat. Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half, about 15 minutes. The actual time it takes depends on the width of your pot and specific heat, so keep an eye on it as it may go faster than expected. Weigh the champagne after reducing to make sure you’ve taken it down to eight ounces. If you accidentally reduce it too far, add a little more champagne to bring it back to eight ounces.

In the same pot, combine the eight ounces of champagne reduction with corn syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean scrapings. Set over medium heat and stir gently, taking care to not splash liquid up the sides of the pot.

Keep cooking, undisturbed, until the mixture registers 240° on a candy thermometer. Once it does, shut off the heat and let it stand until it cools to 210°. This is important; too hot a mixture will prevent the gelatin from setting properly, leaving you with unworkable, gooey ‘mallows in the end.

Once the mixture has cooled to 210°, pour all of it into the mixing bowl with the awaiting gelatin. Fit the bowl with the whisk attachment and whip on medium speed for about a minute, until the gelatin has fully melted. Now, crank it to medium-high and whip until the mixture has nearly tripled in volume.

When it has, shut off the mixer and set the whisk attachment aside (don’t even bother to try and scrape it clean, the mess to reward ratio favours mess by far). Pour the marshmallow goo into the prepared pan and bang the pan against the counter a few times to level the mixture.

Dust the top of the giant marshmallow with some powdered sugar, cover in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

To cut the marshmallows, dust a cutting board with powdered sugar and have a large chef’s knife ready. Take the pan of chilled marshmallows and literally reach your fingers between the ‘mallow and the pan, and pull that guy right outta there.

Dust the exposed bottom of the ‘mallow with more powdered sugar. You can use a metal cookie cutter to cut the marshmallows into shapes, or use a knife to cut out the pieces instead. For the latter, cut the big marshmallow pillow into 13, 1” strips. Stop periodically and clean the knife as gunky marshmallow buildup on the blade will give subsequent cuts a ragged edge. Once the strips are cut, roll them about in powdered sugar so none of the sides are sticky.

Now cut the strips in 1” increments (you can gather up 3 or 4 strips to chop up in one go).

Toss the cut pieces in powdered sugar to prevent sticking.

Store in an airtight container or zippy bag. Last about two weeks at room temperature, a month in the fridge, or eternity in the freezer.

Choose your favourite wine or champagne. This is my flavour of the month.

Pour gelatin and champagne in stand up mixer, do not mix yet.

Reduce 16 oz of champagne by exactly half.

Drink the leftovers. It would be a sin to waste it ;P.

Grease and sugar your pan. I use a brush to help coat the pan.

Heat Champagne mixture to 240F and than cool to 210F.

Gelatin mixture will have activated and expanded. Turn on mixer.

Slowly pour in warm mixture.

Whip until tripled in volume.

Scrap in to waiting pan and dust with powdered sugar.

Once cut and coated you will have amazing champagne marshmallows for roasting, dipping or just eating.

Tips:

When cutting, keep your knife clean, it will make the process a lot easier.

As promised here is the regular marshmallow recipe.

Marshmallows

Ingredients

3 packages unflavoured gelatin

1 cup ice cold water, divided

12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

Nonstick spray

Directions

Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.

In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat. Let cool to 210F

Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.

For regular marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.

When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

For miniature marshmallows:

Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl. Line 4 half sheet pans with parchment paper, spray the paper with nonstick cooking spray and dust with the confectioners' sugar mixture.

Scoop the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round piping tip. Pipe the mixture onto the prepared sheet pans lengthwise, leaving about 1-inch between each strip. Sprinkle the tops with enough of the remaining cornstarch and sugar mixture to lightly cover. Let the strips set for 4 hours or up to overnight.

Cut into 1/2 inch pieces using a pizza wheel or scissors dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining sugar mixture and store in an airtight container for up to a week.



I wish I had pink shoes for this challenge!! Mr. VIP and I need to go shoe shopping again, but I have an awesome pair in mind to get. But these are another great pair on ankle boots for jeans.



I was sure I would get to sleep in tomorrow, but no apparently I am not allowed. The guys are coming to redo our roof at 7 in the morning. I told my dad that they have to be quiet until I wake up, he gave me a "In your dreams" kind of look. 5 more days, I can't believe it!

Happy Baking!

Sey