A Cup of Tea and Cake’s Maple Marshmallows

Ingredients

• 333ml warm water + an additional 167ml to soak the gelatin
• 36g powdered gelatin
• 500g maple sugar
• 320ml corn syrup
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup (preferably golden colour for its delicate flavour)

Equipment

• Sugar thermometer
• Dough scraper
• 9 x 13 inch high-sided tin
• Large metal bowl
• Heavy duty / cast iron saucepan
• Oven gloves
• Electric whisk or heavy duty stand mixer
• Chef’s knife
• Sieve

1. First of all, get prepared: split and scrape your vanilla bean, then grease the 9 x 13 inch baking tin using salted butter.
2. 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. 
3. Butter your dough scraper or rubber spatula with butter, then set everything aside for later.
4. 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!
5. 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 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.
6. 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 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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).
10. 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.
11. Let it set for about 4 hours. If you’re leaving them out for longer (like overnight), then cover with cling film.
12. When you’re ready to cut them, sprinkle the other half of the cornflour evenly on top of the set marshmallows.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. Keep your marshmallows in an airtight container for up to one month.