Chocolate-Covered Homemade Marshmallows

Grease 9-inch (2.5 L) square cake pan; line with parchment paper. Lightly grease paper; dust with some of the icing sugar. Set aside.

In saucepan, bring granulated sugar, 1/3 cup water and corn syrup to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil, without stirring but brushing down side of pan with pastry brush dipped in cold water, until candy thermometer reaches 260°F (125°C), about 12 minutes, or hard-ball stage when 1 tsp syrup dropped into cold water forms hard ball. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water; let stand for 5 minutes. Heat over low heat, stirring, until clear, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk into hot sugar syrup. (Mixture will bubble up.)

In stand mixer, beat egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form. With machine running, gradually pour in gelatin mixture, beating on high until increased in volume and cool, about 12 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

Immediately scrape into prepared pan. Using greased palette knife or spatula, smooth top. Sprinkle with some of the remaining icing sugar. Let stand, uncovered, at room temperature until firm, 4 hours.

Remove from pan and peel off paper. Transfer to icing sugar–dusted cutting board. Using greased knife and cleaning and greasing knife between cuts, cut into 40 squares, trimming edges.

Gently press sides and bottom of each square into remaining icing sugar to coat; dust off excess. Let stand on waxed paper–lined baking sheet until dry, 1 hour. With dry pastry brush, brush off excess sugar.

In heatproof bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, stir two-thirds of the chocolate just until melted. Remove from heat; stir in remaining chocolate until melted. Using fork or dipping fork, coat each marshmallow in chocolate, tapping fork to let excess chocolate drip back into bowl.

Place on parchment or waxed paper–lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes.

Source : Canadian Living Magazine: December 2011