Homemade Marshmallows

Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Since Valentine's Day is tomorrow, this was the perfect opportunity for me to make marshmallows. I made some marshmallows around Christmas time, and they were a big hit. These are perfect in a mug of hot chocolate or dipped in a chocolate fondu. Instead of vanilla extract for the original marshmallow flavor, you can also use peppermint, almond, or any other flavor you like. The peppermint ones were really good in hot chocolate at Christmas time. It's almost mandatory that you have a stand mixer, or else your hands may wear out. I added red food coloring to give the marshmallows the pink color, but you can use any color or just leave it white. The recipe says to use one rectangular pan, and the marshmallows are about 2 inches high. My heart cookie cutter was too small for that, so I used 2 rectangular dishes so the marshmallows would be thinner.

Ingredients:

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
4 packages (1/4 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract (I used 1 TBSP vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites
I also used about 15-20 drops of red food coloring

Directions:
Coat a rectangular glass dish with cooking spray and set aside. Put sugar, corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; let mixture come to a boil. Raise heat to medium-high; cook until mixture registers 260 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over 3/4 cup water in a heatproof bowl; let stand 5 minutes to soften. Set the bowl with the gelatin mixture over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in extract (I stirred in 1 tsp extract now and saved the rest for adding later); set aside.
Beat egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Whisk gelatin mixture into sugar mixture. With mixer running, gradually add to egg whites (this is where I add the remaining 2 tsp of the extract and the food coloring). Mix on high speed until very thick, 12 to 15 minutes.
Pour mixture into baking dish, working QUICKLY to spread it out (it will thicken pretty quick).
Spray a piece of parchment paper (large enough to cover baking dish) with nonstick cooking spray and press down on top of the marshmallow mixture in the dish. Rub back and forth to make a smooth top. Let marshmallow stand at room temperature until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Cut into squares or cut out with a cookie cutter.