Beer Marshmallows

Difficult?  Easier than you think.
Time consuming? Moderately so.

Beer marshmallows taste way better than you think they should, and they'd be an awesome and surprising addition to any football party (GO BUCKS!).  These marshmallows are reminiscent of overly crowded basements at fraternity houses my freshman  sophomore junior year of college - that beery smell and taste but without the annoying girls and frat-tastic guys.  These remind me of giving my husband a smooch at a football game - an awesome combination of beer and pretzels (him) and chocolate (me, of course).  Basically what I'm saying is that even if you don't care for beer (like me), or love it and wish you could bathe in it (don't), you can basically connect some awesome memory to these delicious, homemade, sweet and salty beer marshmallows dipped in chocolate and coated in crushed pretzels.

Check out How Sweet It Is (where I found the recipe) for awesome photos and the original recipe (which I am sharing below).

The Recipe

 Makes a 13x9" pan

Ingredients:
3 1/2 envelopes (not ounces, envelopes) unflavored gelatin, Knox brand is pretty common
1 cup cold, flat beer, divided (any beer is fine, I think I used Yuengling)
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites or meringue powder of equal portion
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 cups chocolate chips
pretzels, crushed (any kind is good but the original author suggests the hard sourdough kind)

Directions:

1.  Flatten the beer;  do this by taking the cap off and leaving the bottle open in the fridge overnight or by pouring cold beer into a bowl and whisking vigorously to reduce the carbonation.

2.  Grab your 9 x 13 pan, cover with oil (e.g., Pam, butter, crisco, etc), and dust with powdered sugar to coat. Set aside.

3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, pour 1/2 cup cold beer and 3 1/2 packs of gelatin. Gently mix with a spoon, set aside.

4.  In a medium sauce pan combine sugar, remaining beer, corn syrup and salt. Heat over low and whisk until sugar is dissolved, about 3-5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium and bring the sugar to a boil.  Stick in a candy thermometer. Let it boil for 8-12 minutes, until the sugar reaches 240 degrees F. The mixture will look light brown (darker or lighter, depending on the beer you use).

5.  Once the mixture is at 240 degrees, turn off the heat and gently pour it in the gelatin bowl with the mixer on low speed (Kitchen Aid speed 2) and the whisk attachment attached  (I recommend pouring a slow and steady stream down the side of the bowl so the whisk doesn't send how sugar all over the bowl).  Turn the mixer to high (Kitchen Aid speed 8 or 10) and beat for for 6-8 minutes. It will grow in size and be white and fluffy.

6.  While the beer/sugar mixture is going, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks in another bowl (a hand mixer works well).  Once stiff peaks are formed, add the egg whites and vanilla to the beer/sugar mixture and beat until just combined.

7.  Pour marshmallow into the 9 x 13 pan. It's very sticky, do your best getting it all out of the bowl.  Smooth down (a Pam coated spatula helps) then dust powdered sugar on top.  Let sit to firm up for 3-5 hours.

8.  Once firm, flip the pan onto a cutting board to remove the marshmallow.  Cut into desired sizes (if you taste-test at this time, you may not love the way they taste - I didn't and neither did my husband, but keep going).

9. Melt chocolate chips in microwave (30 seconds at 50% power, stir, repeat) or over a double boiler. Dip marshmallow squares in chocolate then roll in pretzel crumbs.  I added extra sea salt for a stronger sweet/salty punch.  Place on a wax paper lined baking sheet to harden.  You can speed up the process by putting a tray of coated marshmallows in the fridge.  Eat and enjoy!!

Recipe from How Sweet It Is.

DIY Colored Sugar

Difficulty: Easy
Time consuming: No

I saw a really interesting post on Pinterest the other day about making edible glitter.  I was pretty excited because even though I didn't have a project in mind, I could already see my cookies and cupcakes sparkling.  I followed the pin to the original site and it showed bowls of colorful and glittery glitter.  Using salt.  Eh, not so great for decorating sweets.  But another pinner had commented on it saying you could do it with sugar. 

So why not?  I measured 1/4 cup of sugar into a bowl and added 1/2 teaspoon of  liquid food coloring (I did mostly red with some drops of yellow), mixed until there was no more white, and baked on a foil lined baking sheet at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  I was pretty sure the sugar was gonna melt together and I'd throw the whole thing away.  To my surprise, the sugar dried nicely with an awesome tint of red.  I sifted the sugar through a fine wire mesh sieve and stored in an airtight container.  Colored sugar can be pricey at stores and it's nice to know I can make my own at home!

1

2

3

4

Ta da!

Adapted from Planetpals Craft Page

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Difficulty level: Very easy
Time consuming: Not actively, but there's a lot of wait time for the finished product.
Cost: Around $20
Benefit: 4 cups (32 fluid ounces) of PURE vanilla extract.

Materials: vanilla beans, paring knife &cutting board, vodka, container (if you're not gonna use the vodka container).

Vanilla extract I gifted a friend in a wedding basket.

Split vanilla bean.

Have you ever read the ingredients on a bottle of vanilla extract?  A bottle of McCormick pure vanilla extract is made from "vanilla bean extractives in water and alcohol."  Spice Select brand lists their ingredients as "water, alcohol, extractives of vanilla bean."  And if you'd like to go with a nicer, pricier supermarket brand, Rodelle Gourmet Pure Vanilla Extract contains "Vanilla bean extractives in water, alcohol, and sugar." Don't even get me started on the imitation stuff (it's synthetically processed from other plants and combined with water and alcohol)

And not to mention how expensive it is for even a small bottle - around $3-5 for a 2 oz bottle.  An 8 oz bottle at a gourmet grocery store near me sells for $18!

Making vanilla extract is possibly one of the easiest things you can do to personalize your baking.  People are always shocked when I say something is made with homemade vanilla.

The FDA regulates commercial vanilla extract to contain 13.35 ounces (in weight) of vanilla bean to 1 gallon (128 fluid ounces) of alcohol (35-40%).  If you were to replicate the exact amounts to make vanilla extract at home, that comes out to about 1 ounce of vanilla beans to almost 10 fluid ounces of alcohol (for a better grasp on how much liquid that is, remember that 1 cup of liquid is equal to 8 fluid ounces).  When I make my vanilla at home, I use a larger ratio of beans to liquid since I don't have machines or anything to help me extract flavors.

So let's get to it.

Start with 1 ounce of vanilla beans (approximately 8-12 beans; when I weighed mine out for this, it came to 11 beans per ounce). I buy mine on Amazon from a supplier called Vanilla Products USA (free shipping! But not if you buy direct from Vanilla Products USA).  I get the Madagascar Bourbon Grade B Extract Vanilla Beans (6"). (The last time I purchased beans, a friend and I split half of a pound [8oz] which in total cost $20.  We ended up with over 40 beans EACH for just around $10). Grade B refers to the appearance and moisture content of the bean.  Grade B is drier than Grade A (meaning that by weight, purchasing grade B gets you more bean and less moisture, which is fine since we're about to soak it in vodka).  Grade B is also not as pretty, the skin might be torn or broken.  Again this is fine, we're about to cut it open anyways.

Find yourself a nice container.  Preferably one bigger than 1 cup.  I found that 6 beans can displace about 2 oz of liquid.  Steralize if you'd like by following water bath canning methods.  I do this, but I don't think it's vital to the success of your vanilla.

For this batch, my husband picked me up Kroger's finest bottle of Popov (40%) measuring 1 liter.  1 liter is equal to 33.81 fluid ounces.  Don't believe me? Here, look.

Sorry this is sideways.  I can't figure out how to fix it in Blogger :(

So I poured my vodka into a Pyrex measuring cup so that I could slowly add beans and vodka and not worry about the whole bean/liquid displacement issue.  If one liter is just over 33 ounces, I should be able to just use my 4 cup measuring cup, right? Wrong.  Someone needs to tell Popov they are under promising and over delivering on the amount of product they sell.

That's definitely 36 ounces.

Rejoice over the almost 3 ounces of extra booze.  Then continue.

Grab your bean at one knobby end, and insert the tip of a paring knife 1/4-1/2" below the knot and slice completely through the bean all the way to the end.  Then drop the bean into your container and proceed with the rest of your beans.  You'll end up with some vanilla seeds (aka caviar) on your hands and it will smell delicious.

Here's what I'm calling the knobby, hooked, end.

Stab,

split, 

drop;

repeat!

Pour over top of your beans 1 cup of basic vodka that's 35%-40% alcohol.  I tend to buy whatever is cheap (only the finest Korski or Popov for this girl!)

Ta-da! What it looks like on day 1.

When all was said and done, I used 4 ounces of beans (45 beans) and 4 cups of vodka.

And that's it.  Now you have to wait.  Cap your container and put it in a dry, dark place, like inside of a cabinet or pantry.  Shake once a week or so for 2.  Whole.  Months.  That's right, 8 weeks.  Some other sources will tell you 1 month.  My mother would tell you 3.  I go with two, because that's about as long as I can wait before I want to use it and still feel like I haven't cheated.  As my extract ages, I will take pictures and update.

Since I used a large liquor bottle, this batch was relegated to the floor of my pantry with the (probably) skunked Hudy Delight and my broom.

*Updated on 6/21/12.

The vanilla will start to impart it's flavor almost immediately.  And you will see your vodka become darker in just a matter of days.  If you have no self control, like me, you'll probably open your bottle at least once a week to smell how yummy it is.

Did you wait two months? Good.  Strain your vanilla through a wire sieve lined with a coffee filter into a glass measuring cup (or any container, really.  I just like that because it has a spout for pouring).  Mmmm, doesn't it smell great?  I funnel mine into an old vanilla extract bottle I saved.  Or just store it in a jar or other container. 

All that great vanilla flavor, sans added water or sugar!

But wait!! Don't discard your vanilla beans and solids, put them back into your container, add vodka, and wait another 2 months for a whole new batch of vanilla extract.  This can go on for years.  Saving you money for sure in the long run, especially if you bake a lot, like me.  It also makes a great gift.

Bottom line: For 32 ounces of pure vanilla extract, you would've spent between $48-$80, depending on the quality and brand you buy at the store.  Take away the initial $20 dollar investment and you've saved $28-$60 on what can probably be a lifetime supply of vanilla extract for most people.  And if you do use it all, then refill and keep going, the savings just get bigger and bigger!

**6/21/12 update: I stopped taking pictures of my extract after each week because after it got dark, like it did after the first week, you couldn't really see a difference.  But with one twist of the cap, you could smell how aromatic the extract has become.
**7/21/12 Updated to include links to vanilla bean suppliers.
**12/19/12: If I can, I try to let the vodka and beans mingle together for about 6 months (if I'm patient enough), strain the extract from the beans, and put the "spent" beans in a mason jar to save for other applications.  I no longer add vodka to "top off" my extract, nor do I reuse beans to make more.  I do put used beans in a container of white sugar (2 beans to 500grams of sugar) to make vanilla sugar.  I have also scraped the caviar out of the used beans and saved it in a container for other uses (like sugar cookies, frosting, etc).