Caramel Swirl Marshmallows

Okay, these little guys are definitely in my top five favorite mallow recipes so far. Caramel is mixed with just a little marshmallow batter (so it sticks to the rest of the batter), then marbled into the rest with a knife.

They’re a little on the sweet side, but I created this recipe with the idea that they would be a garnish for hot chocolate, coffee, or apple cider—or really, any cold weather toasty beverage that could benefit from a little marshmallow fluff and caramel flavor. Make a couple batches of these to bring to holiday parties and/or give away as gifts. Stored in a a resealable plastic bag, these will be good for several weeks.

Hope you all enjoy these!
M

Carmel Swirl Marshmallows
Prep time: 35 min | Ready in: 6 hours, 35 min

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
3 packages unflavored gelatin (vegetarian substitutions)
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup of caramel sauce at room temperature (here’s a recipe I use, I just omit the salt)

Cooking tools:

A candy thermometer
Tin foil
9×13-inch cake or jelly roll pan

Directions:

If you’re making homemade caramel, be sure it’s cooled to room temperature before you begin making marshmallows. (If it’s cold, it’ll be too stiff to mix with the marshmallow batter—too warm, and it’ll melt the batter and, well, it’ll get weird.)
Line the inside of the pan with tin foil, then coat well with cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine a 1/2 of a cup of cold water with the packets of gelatin and allow to sit until gelatin forms, about 15 minutes.
In a medium saucepan on medium heat, combine the sugar and 1/2 of a cup of water, then stir until sugar has dissolved—about 3 to 5 minutes. Increase heat to bring mixture to a low boil, and continue to boil until the temperature reaches 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer—about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Slowly pour sugar mixture into the bowl with the gelatin, simultaneously using a mixer on low. Gradually increase speed to high and continue whipping until the mix is very thick, about 10 to 15 minutes—imagine the consistency of pourable taffy.
Pour all but about 1/2 of a cup of the mixture into the pan, smoothing the surface with a spatula. (Spray spatula with cooking spray as needed to keep it from sticking.) Let the marshmallow sit for about 6 hours, uncovered, until completely set.
Pour caramel into bowl and mix with remaining marshmallow batter—should take less than 30 seconds.
Pour mixture into batter in the pan, in a swirl-ish way.
Use a knife to create the marbled effect.
Let the batter sit for six hours, uncovered until completely set.
Cover a surface larger than the marshmallow slab with powdered sugar and carefully remove the marshmallow slab from the pan and place on powder sugared surface.
Cut marshmallows in whatever shapes you’d like. (It helps to continually coat the knife or cookie cutters with powdered sugar to keep them from sticking. A pizza wheel is great if you’re just cutting into squares or rectangles.)
Dust all sides of marshmallow pieces with powdered sugar.