No better way to let granulated caramel shine than in homemade marshmallow!
ICYMI, and in case you’re wondering what granulated caramel is, I have a great post documenting my disastrous introduction to toasted sugar. Highly recommend reading that before plunging into this Caramel Marshmallow recipe.
If for no other reason than it discusses the KEY star ingredient in this recipe. An ingredient I had no knowledge of until the aforementioned blog entry experience.
I’m delighted to announce that it’s gotten easier since then. Borderline effortless to toast some sugar. It’s just a (relatively hands-off) time commitment. But toasted sugar has become a staple ingredient in our pantry. I ALWAYS keep some on hand.
That being said, I’ve grown more judicious in my use of it. It does take hours to make, so you don’t want to just throw that delicious, golden caramel into ANY recipe.
Some recipes have enough flavor on their own that the granulated caramel would be wasted. Baked goods with strong spices, for instance? Forego the toasted sugar. Gingerbread men? You won’t taste it. Spiced carrot cake like I made for Nova’s 2nd birthday? It’ll be lost.
Maybe the flavor could peek through with a black cocoa cake like I made for Orson’s 3rd birthday. Who doesn’t love chocolate with caramel? But in my experience with toasted sugar, it really deserves to be the star of the show.
And I’ve come up with THE recipe to make sure that happens. I thought I’d already done that with my PERFECT key lime pie ice cream recipe, but this Caramel Marshmallow perfection will have you giving a standing ovation.
Serving & Stashing
Just some final suggestions so that I can keep this post short and OH, so SWEET:
1. TOAST THE SUGAR!
If you’re questioning whether or not it’s actually worth the time to toast the sugar, lean into it! DO IT. With three kids, I totally get that time is a limited luxury. That being said, if you want Caramel Marshmallow, you HAVE to make the granulated caramel for the marshmallow.
I kid you not. I literally told Nathan after we tried the first batch I made of Caramel Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats (recipe to come) using this homemade Caramel Marshmallow that I felt sorry for all of the people who wouldn’t get to try this because of the perceived time commitment.
Toasting sugar could not be easier. Just takes time and vigilance…and a quick stir every half hour. That’s it. TRUST ME.
2. My FAVORITE uses for Caramel Marshmallow:
It’s become a Christmas Eve tradition in our house now. Every year, we’ll now be celebrating the night before Christmas with hot mugs of dark chocolate cocoa topped with a decadent Caramel Marshmallow.
Sip slowly. It sits heavy, as it’s oh-so-luxuriously-rich, but it is SO comforting and satisfying. And the Caramel Marshmallow kind of slowly melts into the cocoa. It’s a whole thing.
And as I mentioned in #1, the VERY BEST use of Caramel Marshmallow is incorporating it into a batch of Caramel Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats. Admittedly, I’ve always been a marshmallow treat sucker, but the caramel has converted Nathan, at long last, as well. Add in the brown butter, and you’re on Cloud Nine.
3. Storing the Caramel Marshmallow:
So, these do last for a month in a Stasher. Speaking from personal experience. The original recipe I adapted suggested that these could be stored in an airtight container for a couple months. Well…..
Technically, yes. But the Caramel Marshmallow won’t be the same. The texture changes. For whatever reason, it loses the light, spongy fluffiness. It isn’t like any stale, store-bought marshmallows, though. It almost feels dehydrated, and it reminds us of that novelty “astronaut food” candy. Edible, but not preferable.
So, I recommend enjoying these within a week. Or fresh from the pan. Or immediately thrown into a batch of Caramel Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats. If you want them stored, I cut mine into 2.25-2.5″ squares, dust each edge with powdered sugar (so the cut marshmallows don’t stick to each other), and put them in a Stasher (or airtight container) at room temp.
Stay Sweet
And, hey, if you do decide to go for it…the WHOLE SHEBANG–toasting the sugar, making the marshmallow, all that jazz… Then, brag on yourself! I want to hear about it and see pictures! So, tell me how much you and your family loved the Caramel Marshmallow you put the time and effort in to make!
It really is worth it!
Post your #caramelmarshmallow pictures on IG and tag @the_mamasaur. Follow me on Facebook, leave a comment, or shoot me an email if that’s more your speed. Can’t wait to connect!
Caramel Marshmallow
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Kitchen Thermometer
- 1 Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated caramel (toasted sugar)
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- ½ cup water
- 3 packets Knox gelatin (~2.5-tsp/packet)
- ½ cup water for blooming the gelatin
- ½ tsp kosher salt I use Diamond brand
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Prep a 9" square pan. I grease the entire pan with room-temp unsalted butter, line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease over the paper as well.
- In a medium sauce pot, combine the granulated caramel, corn syrup, and water. Stir to evenly distribute ingredients and scrape with a rubber spatula to ensure no sugar is stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Cook over med-high heat until it starts to boil.
- Once it begins to boil, lower heat to medium, cover with a lid for 2 minutes. DO NOT remove the lid during the 2 minutes. No peeking!
- After 2 minutes, remove the lid and place a thermometer inside the pot. Take care that it's not just resting on the bottom of the pot because it will read higher. Cook the caramel mixture until it reads between 242-245℉.
- Bloom your gelatin while you're waiting for the right temperature. Place the gelatin in the bowl of your stand mixer and add ½ cup of water to it. Give it a light stir, then let it sit for 10 minutes to bloom.
- When your caramel mixture has reached at least 242℉, take it off of the heat and wait for the bubbles to subside.
- Once the gelatin has finished blooming for 10 minutes, very slowly pour in the caramel mixture on one side of the stand mixer bowl while it whisks at medium to high speed (adding the mix to the gelatin all at once will scorch it!).
- When all of the caramel is added to the gelatin, increase to high speed whisking. Add in the salt and vanilla bean paste at this time. After approximately 5 minutes, the mixture should look very light in color and be at least doubled in size. Feel free to add a few more minutes if needed.
- Once the caramel marshmallow mixture is sticky and fluffy, grease a rubber spatula generously with unsalted butter. Scoop the caramel marshmallow mixture into your prepped pan and flatten it evenly until it touches all edges and corners.
- Dust the top of the marshmallows with powdered sugar and sit at room temperature for about 5 hours. Feel free to cover loosely with cling wrap if needed.
- Once at least 5 hours has passed, generously grease a knife with unsalted butter. Use this to cut the marshmallow into 16 equal sizes (roughly 2.25" squared). You can cut them as big or as small as you like, but this is definitely my preference as they fit into standard mugs of cocoa easily.
- Once cut, with a little more powdered sugar, I like to rotate each marshmallow so that each edge is dusted. I store them in a Stasher, and this step helps prevent them from sticking to each other.
