Champagne Marshmallows

I still had a bottle of champagne left over from the Champagne Cupcakes so I decided to continue the theme of Champagne-flavored desserts! This recipe makes a lot of marshmallows. So be sure that you really like marshmallows or have lots of marshmallow-loving friends! By the way, these marshmallows last two weeks at room temperature, a month in the fridge, or almost indefinitely in the freezer. So you'll have plenty of time to eat all of them! ;) If you aren't too fond of the idea of alcohol-flavored marshmallows, I have some Chocolate-Swirled Marshmallows that maybe you'll like better!

Feel free to use whatever Champagne you like best; this type just happened to be on sale at the time. If you wanted to get creative, I feel like Moscato would be a great substitution. 

One of my really good friends, Stacy, marbled my nails for me! We saw the idea on Pinterest, and it was such a great idea. It's definitely a two person ordeal though unless you're extremely talented.

The recipe said to reduce the champagne mixture by half, to eight ounces, so I weighed my pot beforehand then weighed it after I added the champagne so I would know exactly what weight to reduce the mixture to. 

This is what the mixture looked like after I added the cooled champagne reduction mixture to the gelatin. 

I wasn't quite sure how much marshmallow mixture I'd started off with or what 300% of that amount would be so I just whisked until I had A LOT of marshmallow.

 Noms.

Although I probably should've used a larger dish. This one is 9x13. 

I waited around 6 hours to uncover my marshmallows, but overnight is preferred. 

Then you just cut them bad boys up and coat them thoroughly in powered sugar! Be sure to wipe your knife off when it gets coated in marshmallow though because it'll make it more difficult to cut perfect marshmallows.

Champagne Marshmallows
slightly adapted from Brave Tart


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 ounces gelatin
• 11 ounces champagne
• 11 ounces corn syrup
• 16 ounces champagne
• 28 ounces sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• optional: 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod reserved for another use OR 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• ample powdered sugar for dusting

 Directions

• Have a lightly greased 9”x13” pan at the ready.
• Combine the gelatin and 11 ounces of champagne together in the bottom of a stand mixer bowl. Set aside.
• Pour sixteen ounces of champagne into a medium pot and place over medium-low heat. Simmer until the mixture is reduced by half, about 15 minutes. The actual time it takes depends on the width of your pot and specific heat, so keep an eye on it as it may go faster than expected. Weigh the champagne after reducing to make sure you have taken it down to eight ounces. If you accidentally reduce it too far, add a little more champagne to bring it back to eight ounces.
• In the same pot, combine the eight ounces of champagne reduction with corn syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla bean scrapings (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract). Set over medium heat and stir gently.
•  Keep cooking, undisturbed, until the mixture registers 240° on a candy thermometer. Once it does, shut off the heat and let it stand until it cools to 210°. This is important; too hot a mixture will prevent the gelatin from setting properly, leaving you with unworkable, gooey ‘mallows in the end.
•  Once the mixture has cooled to 210°, pour all of it into the mixing bowl with the awaiting gelatin. Fit the bowl with the whisk attachment and whip on medium speed for about a minute, until the gelatin has fully melted. Now, crank it to medium-high and whip until the mixture has nearly tripled in volume.
•  When it has, shut off the mixer and set the whisk attachement aside (don’t even bother to try and scrape it clean, the mess to reward ratio favors mess by far). Pour the marshmallow goo into the prepared pan and bang the pan against the counter a few times to level the mixture.
•  Dust the top of the giant marshmallow with some powdered sugar, cover in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
•  To cut the marshmallows, dust a cutting board with powdered sugar and have a large chef’s knife ready. Take the pan of chilled marshmallows and literally reach your fingers between the marshmallow and the pan, and pull it right out.
•  Dust the exposed bottom of the marshmallow with more powdered sugar. You can use a metal cookie cutter to cut the marshmallows into shapes, or use a knife to cut out the pieces instead. For the latter, cut the big marshmallow pillow into 13, 1” strips. Stop periodically and clean the knife as gunky marshmallow buildup on the blade will give subsequent cuts a ragged edge. Once the strips are cut, roll them about in powdered sugar so none of the sides are sticky.
•  Now cut the strips in 1” increments (you can gather up 3 or 4 strips to chop up in one go).
•  Toss the cut pieces in powdered sugar to prevent sticking.
•  Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag. They’re essentially nothing but sugar, so they have a terrific shelf life. About two weeks at room temperature, a month in the fridge, or eternity in the freezer.