It's a marshmallow world in the springtime???

Yes it's Tuesday again and we all know what that means! It's Tuesdays With Dorie day again! (A delicious baking group of over 142 members now, who have vowed to bake their way together through the cook book, "Baking: From My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan) Each week one of the members in rotation gets to pick a recipe from the book and we each cook that recipe and then on Tuesday (and not before) we each post our results. It's really a lot of fun and I highly recommend! There's only two criteria in order to join . . . one: you have to own the book, and, two: you have to love baking!

This week Judy of Judy’s Gross Eats has chosen… Marshmallows!!!

I was really excited to be making marshmallows. Not only did the recipe look fairly easy and quick, but I have never made my own marshmallows before and it's something I always wanted to try! The hardest part of the recipe was deciding which version to make!

Actually that was a no brainer . . . as I am a plain and boring sort of gal when it comes to things like this. I am an odd duck . . . don't ever tell me your real full name, as I will never be able to call you anything but your real full name. I just cannot make myself shorten names to nicknames or anything like that! So if you're name is Josephine and you want to be called Jo . . . don't ever tell me your name is Josephine . . . but . . . I DIGRESS!! (as I often do!)

I decided to make them this past Saturday and assembled all my ingredients. At first I panicked a bit when I saw the recipe and saw that it asked for potato starch. What the heck is that? I've never seen such a thing here in the shops. Then I re-read the recipe again (always a smart move) and realized that I could use cornstarch instead and I have plenty of that! We also don't have regular corn syrup over here, but we DO have Golden Syrup, which is a fairly good subsitute and so I used that as well. Golden Syrup is a lovely syrup which is very similar to cornsyrup except that it has a distinct caramel like flavour to it . . . it's quite nice really.

I had no problems whatsoever with this recipe. Everything went fine and a.o.k. right from the boiling of the syrup, to the melting of the gelatin and on up to the spreading the mixture into the pan. I could hardly wait the three hours (I am such a patient person . . . NOT) to cut them out and taste them. I did find that they stuck to the paper on the edges, so I basically had to cut them out of the paper, but with a really sharp knife that chore was a breeze and before too long I had a lovely bunch of marshmallows waiting to be tasted!

But as I told Todd (fingers slapped) not until AFTER the photos have been taken! Men !!!! They just don't understand the ethics of food bloggery do they? Rule number one . . . Absolutely NO eating until AFTER photos have been taken and checked to see if they are ok!

*Marshmallows*

Including marshmallows as a spoon dessert may seem like cheating -- after all, they're eaten with fingers (or, by campers, from sticks picked up in the forest) -- but making them at home is too much fun to miss. And in fact this dessert is related to others in this chapter: the base is meringue -- sweetened and strengthened by a cooked sugar syrup and fortified by gelatin.There's nothing difficult about making the marshmallows, but the meringue does need a long beating. While you can use a hand mixer, a stand mixer makes the job easier.I'm giving you the recipe for a basic vanilla marshmallow. See Playing Around (below) for raspberry, chocolate, cappuccino and pumpkin marshmallows.Makes about 1 pound marshmallows

About 1 cup potato starch (found in the kosher foods section of supermarkets) or cornstarch

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 1/4-ounce packets unflavored gelatin

3 large egg whites, at room temperature

3/4 cup cold water

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar

GETTING READY: Line a rimmed baking sheet -- choose one with a rim that is 1 inch high -- with parchment paper and dust the paper generously with potato starch or cornstarch. Have a candy thermometer at hand.

Put 1/3 cup of the water, 1 1/4 cups of the sugar and the corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar is dissolved, continue to cook the syrup -- without stirring -- until it reaches 265 degrees F on the candy thermometer, about 10 minutes.

While the syrup is cooking, work on the gelatin and egg whites. In a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining cold water (a scant 7 tablespoons) and let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it is spongy, then heat the gelatin in a microwave oven for 20 to 30 seconds to liquefy it. (Alternatively, you can dissolve the gelatin in a saucepan over low heat.)

Working in the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in another large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on medium-high speed until firm but still glossy -- don't overbeat them and have them go dull.

As soon as the syrup reaches 265 degrees F, remove the pan from the heat and, with the mixer on medium speed, add the syrup, pouring it between the spinning beater(s) and the sides of the bowl. Add the gelatin and continue to beat for another 3 minutes, so that the syrup and the gelatin are fully incorporated. Beat in the vanilla.

Using a large rubber spatula, scrape the meringue mixture onto the baking sheet, laying it down close to a short end of the sheet. Then spread it into the corners and continue to spread it out, taking care to keep the height of the batter at 1 inch; you won't fill the pan. Lift the excess parchment paper up to meet the edge of the batter, then rest something against the paper so that it stays in place (I use custard cups).

Dust the top of the marshmallows with potato starch or cornstarch and let the marshmallows set in a cool, dry place. They'll need about 3 hours, but they can rest for 12 hours or more.

Once they are cool and set, cut the marshmallows with a pair of scissors or a long thin knife. Whatever you use, you'll have to rinse and dry it frequently. Have a big bowl with the remaining potato starch or cornstarch at hand and cut the marshmallows as you'd like -- into squares, rectangles or even strips (as they're cut in France). As each piece is cut, drop it into the bowl.

When you've got 4 or 5 marshmallows in the bowl, reach in with your fingers and turn the marshmallows to coat them with starch, then, one by one, toss the marshmallows from one hand to the other to shake off the excess starch; transfer them to a serving bowl. Cut and coat the rest of the batch.

SERVING: Put the marshmallows out and let everyone nibble as they wish. Sometimes I fill a tall glass vase with the marshmallows and put it in the center of the table -- it never fails to make friends smile. You can also top hot chocolate or cold sundaes with the marshmallows.

STORING: Keep the marshmallows in a cool, dry place; don't cover them closely. Stored in this way, they will keep for about 1 week -- they might develop a little crust on the outside or they might get a little firmer on the inside, but they'll still be very good.

*Playing Around*

RASPBERRY MARSHMALLOWS: Fruit purees are excellent for flavoring these candies.For raspberry marshmallows, you'll need a generous 1/3 cup of puree; reduce the vanilla extract to 1/4 teaspoon. After the batter is mixed, gently fold in the puree with a rubber spatula. You can use the same measurements and technique for other purees, such as strawberry, mango and passion fruit.

CAPPUCCINO MARSHMALLOWS: Sift 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon together into a small bowl. Stir in 1/3 cup boiling water and mix until smooth. Reduce the vanilla extract to 1/2 teaspoon, and add it to the espresso mix. After you add the sugar syrup and gelatin to the meringue, beat in the espresso mixture and continue.

LIGHT CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOWS: Melt 3 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate and stir in 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. Reduce the vanilla extract to 1/4 teaspoon, and after the marshmallow batter is mixed, fold in the chocolate mixture with a large rubber spatula.

PUMPKIN SPICE MARSHMALLOWS: Whisk together 1/2 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground allspice. After the marshmallow batter is mixed, fold in the spiced pumpkin with a large rubber spatula.

Now, not only can I not shorten names and such to nicknames, but . . . I cannot leave well enough alone, and all day yesterday, the leftover marshmallows were calling out to me . . . make s'mores . . . make s'mores . . . and so I did, but I made peanut butter cookies to do it with. Homemade peanut butter cookies . . . are there any other kind . . . and Green and Black's Milk Chocolate . . . messy, yes . . . gooey, yes . . . delicious . . . YES!

*Best Peanut Butter Cookies*

Makes about 3 dozen

This recipe comes from my Better Homes and Garden's cookbook. I have been making them for years. They are delicious, right from the cracked sugar coating on the outside to the delicious chewy peanut buttery goodness inside.

1 cup light soft brown sugar, packed

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup butter

1 cup creamy smooth peanut butter

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking soda

2 cups plain flour (you can add 1/4 cup more if needed)

an additional half cup of granulated sugar for rolling

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly grease several baking sheets and set aside.

Cream together the butter, shortening and peanutbutter. Add the sugars and cream together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture gradually until well blended.

Scoop out TBS of the dough and roll into balls. Place the extra sugar in a small bowl and drop the balls into this, rolling them around to coat them well with the sugar. Place the balls onto the baking sheets. Do not mash them down.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 11 to 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and from the baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

PS. I do apoligize for the scrunched together look of this post this morning, but blogger is playing around something terrible and won't put in the spaces between paragraphs no matter how many times I try. (And I have tried at least six times by NOW! Not a lie! I shall have to come back later on and try again then)