Pistachio Marshmallows

 

These were actually made following James' suggestion. Someone he works with was raving about Harrods' pistachio marshmallows, and as we live a long way away from Harrods, he said I'd have to make my own. So, I did, and this is the outcome! They're quite dense and are firmer than your average pink and white mallows, but they are very moreish! I've discovered that I can't have just one! This recipe is adapted from River Cottage, and can easily be changed to suit any flavour you want to try - don't be put off by the amount of steps, they're actually really easy to make.

Ingredients:

1tbsp icing sugar
1tbsp cornflour
1 tsp vegetable oil
25g gelatine powder
125ml very hot water
Few drops of green food colouring
2 egg whites
500g caster sugar
250ml water
50g ground pistachios
50g roughly chopped pistachios

First, prepare your tin. Lightly grease a square, deep sided tin or dish with the vegetable oil - draining any excess. In a small bowl, combine the icing sugar and cornflour, and dust the oil greased tin with a little of the powdery mixture. Save the rest of the mixture for coating the finished marshmallows later.

In another small bowl, add the hot water and gelatine powder, and stir with the wooden spoon until the gelatine has dissolved. Add the green food colouring, give it another stir, and leave it to one side.

In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Lave this to one side too.

Combine the sugar and 250ml water in a small saucepan and warm over a low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and turn the heat up as high as it will go, bringing it to a boil. Continue boiling until it reaches 122c - you will need a sugar thermometer for this. As soon as it reaches 122c, turn the heat off and remove the thermometer from the pan.

Add the gelatine mix to the pan of syrup, stirring constantly with the wooden spoon, until it's well combined.

Now you should have one bowl with whisked egg whites and a pan with the gelatine syrup that you need to combine.

Start whisking the eggs whites again, and very slowly pour the syrup on to the beating egg in a steady, gentle trickle. Once all the gelatine syrup is added, continue whisking the mixture until it thickens up. It should still be pourable, and if you lift up the whisk, a ribbon of marshmallow should remain on the surface for a few seconds before sinking back in to the mix. This can take 5-10 minutes, so be patient. Once it reaches this stage, add the ground pistachios to the bowl and mix for a further minute, until everything is well incorporated.

Pour the marshmallow into the prepared tin, and scatter the chopped pistachios over the top. Leave it to set in a cool place (but not the fridge) for at  least 2 hours. Once it's set, they will be springy to the touch.

To cut it into squares, dust a chopping board with the rest of the icing sugar/cornflour mixture and rub a very sharp knife (I used a cleaver) with a little oil.
Carefully ease the marshmallow out of the tin on to the board, helping it our where necessary with a palette knife. Use the sharp oiled knife to cut the marshmallow into squares; you may need to wipe and re-oil your knife after a few cuts as it will become sticky. Roll each piece around in the icing sugar/cornflour mixture, coating the sticky sides with the powder, and then you're done!