Marshmallow Making

We've been intending to make marshmallows for ages so when we were offered the chance to try out Sainsbury's Marshmallow Making Kit we were keen to give it a go.









Having checked the ingredients in the kit, we were delighted to find they were the same as those that are used in the recipes we had seen online.  This is the recipe we were going to use if we'd cooked them without the kit.

There are quite a few steps, detailed well on the box, and we took lots of pictures. 

Following the instructions, we placed the contents of the sugar sachet in a pan, added 175ml cold water, mixed it well and then put it on the hob to boil.  Once boiling, the heat was reduced and the solution was left to simmer for 10 minutes.

Whilst the sugar was simmering, the 21cm by 21cm tray was lined with clingfilm.  Next, the sides and bottom were dusted with half of the icing sugar mix sachet.

Following the directions, we added the gelatine to a bowl, topped with 100ml boiling water and left it for 5 minutes.  After this time, it was whisked on high until it was frothy.

As soon as the gelatine mix was frothy, the sugar solution was VERY carefully added...

... and whisked for 10 minutes.  We draped a tea towel over the hand mixer and bowl to minimist the risk of splishes and splashes of the "INCREDIBLY hot sugary stuff."



After ten minutes of whisking, the mix was white and had cooled well, we poured it into the clingfilm lined tin.  Adding a dusting of the icing sugar mix to the top, before we placed some more clingfilm on top before chilling in the fridge.

The next day we removed the marshmallow from the tin and then marked the surface ready for cutting.  Sainsbury's packet says the kit makes 12 squares but we made 36!

Dusting the knife with icing sugar, we carefully cut the marshmallow slab up and rolled each strip in icing sugar to stop stickiness.  The slices were then cut, again, into bite-sized chunks which were also dusted in more icing sugar.

We had poured a small portion of the mallow mix onto another clingfilmed and dusted tray and we cut this into Seasonal shapes.

Sous Chef J had fun working out which cutters to use and particularly enjoyed the 'cooks reward' of the leftover marshmallow bits!





We bagged up some of the marshmallows in cellophane bags which will be given as gifts.

This was a fun activity (but the sugar solution does get very hot, so we'd recommend an adult does this part) and the marshmallows are delicious.  We'll definitely make these again and liked that the kit provided the ingredients we needed "without faffing about with measuring stuff out."

Disclosure - we were sent a marshmallow making kit by Sainsbury's but were not required to write a positive blog post about it.  All views are our own.

Christmas Chocolate Stirrers

We came across some chocolate stirrers in a shop whilst out Christmas shopping and Sous Chef J wanted to make some of his own.  Luckily, we already had a silicone ice cube tray with a festive theme so we wondered if we would be able to make use of it.

It was important to source some white chocolate that was actually meant to melt.  Having looked closely at the offerings in the cake decorating aisle at the supermarket, we went for some chocolate chips from Silverspoon.  The packet mentioned melting and gave directions so that was a start, at least!

Having put the choc chips into ceramic bowls, we placed them into a container of hot (not boiling) water and used a spatula to stir them.  Miracle of miracles, they melted.

Next it was onto filling the silicone tray with the melted chocolate.  We did the white chocolate snowmen and snowflakes first.  Then moved onto the dark chocolate for the stockings, trees and bells.

We then added cake pop sticks... this was a delicate task as we needed to make sure the chocolate was firm enough to take the sticks without being too hard to get them in.

Whilst we waited for the chocolate to set fully, we sorted out which sprinkles would be used to decorate our stirrers.  Sugar stars and sugar strands from Morrisons as well as Dr Oetker chocolate stars were what Sous Chef J chose.

 This is what the fully cooled chocolates looked like.






We then warmed them over hot water and placed them in the decorations before being placed in paper petit four cases.  To make individual gifts for Sous Chef J's pals, the chocolate stirrers were put in a cellophane bag which was tied with Christmas themed ribbon.