Co Co. Sala Marshmallows

Remember awhile back when I made marshmallows from scratch? And then I pleaded to Co Co. Sala for help? Well, they answered my plea. And they even let me come in and learn how to make marshmallows from scratch. Their way. The right way.

I was in awe. I asked so many questions. I squealed in delight. I fell just short putting my face in the pan of marshmallow fluff and licking it all up.

The good news: it’s not rocket science and their recipe is incredibly similar to the one I was using. The bad news: they’re a restaurant…with ingredients and equipment my budget and tiny kitchen can’t accommodate. It’s okay though! They’re not going to stop making marshmallows anytime soon, so whenever I need a fix I can pop over to Co Co. Sala and indulge myself. It’s probably better that way. Their marshmallows are so addictive they should be a controlled substance.

Nisha at Co Co. Sala (shout out!) invited me over and hooked me up with Katie, their chocolatier, for a marshmallow lesson. Here’s the step by step in photos and ingredients/measurements! I seriously can’t say thank you enough – and that Nisha and Katie were just so damn nice made it even better. Say hello to them if you’re ever there!

Ready?! Ok! First the mise en place…

You’ll notice that Katie uses sheet gelatin. I’d never heard of or seen the stuff before! Katie did a little research and found a box on Amazon for more than I would pay for it, but it turns out King Arthur sells 20 sheets for $8! You soak it in ice water for a few minutes, strain and squeeeeeeze excess water out, then heat it in the microwave to melt it. I’ll just say, this gelatin looked nothing like the stuff I used :(

Recipe and the whole process after the jump…

Homemade Marshmallows

You know…I expected more of you. Little Gourmet, December 1998 recipe. I wanted soft, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth marshmallows.

Instead, I got rubbery and gelatinous. I was so disappointed. :\ I had a friend of mine taste them to see if maybe I was nuts. He said I was nuts. He said they tasted like other homemade marshmallows he’s had before. I even considered the idea that making something from scratch creates a more true taste than processed foods…like I experienced with my homemade graham crackers.

In the end, all I could say was, “These don’t taste like CoCo Sala’s homemade marshmallows.” *insert frowny face here* So here’s my plea…CoCo Sala…will you help me make better homemade marshmallows? I want them! I need them! I neeeeeeed them by this winter! For mexican hot chocolate! For sweet potato pie! For my hormonal candy binges!

Eeeep! Haaalp!

PS – This is recipe fail, numero dos here at One Bite At A Time. Mark it.

Candied Lemon Peels

How does one garnish a goat cheese cheesecake? Why…candied lemon peels! Thanks for asking!

To be perfectly honest, I’ve wanted to candy something citrusy for a while now. It wasn’t until last weekend while researching recipes that I realized how easy the process was. Done. Aaaaand done.

The process amounts to boiling the crap out of the lemon peels in water, seeping it sugar-water for a while, only to end the process in a bowl of sugar flipping the lemon peel around wildly.

I used a standard vegetable peeler and a citrus zester (like this one) to achieve the long peels and curly cues. Be careful to not peel the white pith of the lemon in the process…you don’t want that part…it’s bitter and blech.

I was nearly sure that this boiling and simmering and flipping process was going to decimate the curly cues, but boy was I wrong! On the contrary, the curly cues were the best of the candied peels! The long wide peels lost their shape and curled in on themselves in the most unattractive way. (We’ll call those slices “rustic” in an attempt to mask what they really were: ugly.)

I hope you have as much fun as I had with this process! No citrus fruit is safe now…no key lime pie will go ungarnished…

Enjoy!