Marshmallow Question

[gansu girl]

OK, I can't believe I'm even posting this right now, 'cause I'm beyond burned out on cookies/sweets and Christmas hasn't even officially arrived . . . but . . . the thread on Kitchenaid mixers reminded me I need the help of the 'hounds.

A month or so ago, my daughter and I sought to make marshmallows - we used Martha Stewart's recipe to the letter(http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/h...) except that instead of the unflavored gelatin, we used strawberry flavored gelatin (spare me the flames, the child is 5, loves syrupy sweetness and above all else PINK). Well, they didn't set up - even overnight - the outside and top were firm-ish, but the center was marshmallow-creme.

Was it the substitution? Tips 'n' tricks for me?

[todao]

Not all gelatin is equal. And I'd agree that whatever might have been included as an ingredient in the flavored gelatin may have been the culprit. You can make flavored marshmallows using pureed fruit.
Ratio is about 1 ounce of puree to 1 envelope of gelatin.

[gansu girl]

pureed, as in, I can puree it in my mini cuisinart and toss it in? REAL strawberries would taste so much better . . . .

[AkL]

Yes. In fact, I'm making them right now (KA on overdrive for 15 mins, lol)

I got my recipe from egullet -- a guy by the name of Nightscotsman has a great strawberry marshmallow recipe. They're a little bland at first but the flavor intensifies overnight.

http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r2...

[paulj]

What adjustments did you make in the quantities? The flavored gelatin probably had flavoring as well as sugar. I think the only way to make something equivalent is to compare the amount of liquid needed to make equivalent stiffness jello.

[gansu girl]

I used the same amt. of strawberry flavored gelatin as was called for for the unflavored gelatin (3T plus 1.5 t of gelatin). But you know, looking at the recipe, it calls for 4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin - that seems like it'd be more than 3T plus 1.5 t - anyone know?

[paulj]

The basic jello recipe on the side of the knox gelatin box is 1 envelope for 2c of liquid. What's the ratio on the flavored box?

[gansu girl]

dunno - this is not something I usually have around - in fact, that was part of the impetus for using the strawberry stuff! anyone else know?

[mamaciita]

The 4-serving size flavored gelatin mixes with 2 cups of water.

The strawberry flavored gelatin has tons of sugar, so when you use equal amounts of flavored vs unflavored, the bulk of the flavored variety is sugar.

Your 3T plus 1.5 t of strawberry probably contained very little actual gelatin.

I tint mine with regular food coloring. It takes quite a bit to get intense colors, but I haven't had any textural issues from the liquid.

Emeril has a lemon marshmallow recipe on foodtv.com that sounds awesome.

[paulj]

Based on the 2cups of water, I'd say a 4 person serving of flavored mix is equivalent to one envelope of unflavored. It makes sense that they'd pack the unflavored gelatin in the same serving size. So the substitute for 4 envelopes would be 4 flavored packets.

[diverx99]

Go with the Good Eats Alton Brown recipe. I have used that a half a dozen times and it works great (requires a stand mixer).