It makes me cold just hearing about the blistering temperatures that have been sweeping across the United States these past few weeks! I am lucky enough to live in an area not affected by the Polar Vortex, but we’ve certainly had our fair share of cold spells. Moral of the story… Hot cocoa hits the spot when I’m feeling cold, so you can imagine, I’ve been drinking a lot of it lately. It got me thinking… how can I have a little fun with this? The result… Homemade Skull Marshmallows!
Typically, homemade marshmallows are poured into a flat tray, and once set, they are cut into squares or cut out with cookie cutters. I had my heart set on skulls.. are you at all surprised?… so I set up my test kitchen to figure out how to do it! Tried out different ingredients, different methods, and even different molds… until I found a combination that was just right!
I happen to have a lot of skull molds…. baking molds, ice cube trays, candy molds… you name it. Some worked better than others, and one didn’t work at all. Candy molds typically come as a plastic tray of small mold cavities. These worked ok. Some of the marshmallows released just fine, and others didn’t. I liked the fact that it created little mini skull marshmallows, but ultimately, I didn’t like them because the skull really looked like an alien. I see this a lot with skull molds, and have never understood it. I tried two different silicone ice cube trays.. one worked, one didn’t. Unfortunately, the one that didn’t was the Bone Chillers Skull & Crossbones by Fred. If you’re someone who likes skulls, I have no doubt you’ve seen these trays. I literally have a stack of them… not because I bought them, but for some reason, every person that has ever had to buy me a gift has purchased that ice cube tray for me… So weird! Anyway… the marshmallows would not release from the cavity in one piece… at all! The other tray however, worked just fine. Lastly, I found the silicone baking mold to be the best. The softer, more pliable silicone was much easier to peel away from the marshmallow. Lesson is… look for pliable silicone molds.
This recipe made enough for me to fill up roughly 3-4 mold trays. I say this because you will need to have 3-4 trays on hand, otherwise you will waste the marshmallow mixture. You see, once the marshmallow is ready to be poured into the mold, you literally only have moments to get it in there before the mixture cools, and becomes impossible to work with. There’s no saving the batter for later with this one! More on that below in the recipe instructions.
Now, here’s a little something you may not know about me and this blog. When it was first launched… I had some serious confusion over what kind of content I was supposed to be sharing, and started out by simply sharing recipes… just regular everyday recipes…. not the spooky ones I do today. I don’t really advertise that too much because once I rebranded, I never looked back. Those old original posts are not representative of me or this blog, so they stay somewhat hidden. If you’re interested, you can read more about how and why I rebranded in this article: There Will Be Skulls. Anyway, I bring this up because while those recipes are not representative of Me and Annabel Lee today, they were still damn good recipes. And one of those just happened to be for an amazing Hot Cocoa! AMAZING. If you’re going to make these awesome marshmallows, you should at least be enjoying them with the best hot cocoa!!
So, for all of you out there looking to forget those frigid temperatures, and warm your bones… pour a cup of hot cocoa, add a shot of liquor, and top it off with a homemade skull marshmallow…. you’ll be the coolest kid on the block! 😉 An extra tip…. for that shot of liquor, try Tuaca. It’s my go to for Hot Chocolate! Delicious!!
- 1 tbsp Unflavored Gelatin (1 packet typically measures about 1 tbsp)
- ¼ cup Cold Water
- 1 cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Water
- ⅓ cup Corn Syrup
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- Spray your skull molds with baking spray
- Pour ¼ cup of cold water into a mixing bowl
- Sprinkle the gelatin onto the water, and let sit for about 15 minutes
- Meanwhile, in a saucepan, cook the remaining water, sugar, corn syrup and salt over medium heat
- Heat until the mixture reaches 240 degrees (softball stage)... typically takes 7-10 minutes
- Start the mixer on low to break up the gelatin mixture
- Slowly pour the hot sugar mixture down the side of the mixing bowl (so it doesn't splash)
- Continue mixing, slowly increasing the speed to the highest setting.
- When the mixture is ready, you will have to work VERY FAST to get it into the molds. It only takes moments for it to begin to cool, and once that happens it becomes too hard or sticky to work with... so have your molds set up and ready to go.
- It is also important to note that while the marshmallow mixture is in the mixing bowl, it will slowly be cooling. This means that you have to begin pouring it into the molds while it is warm and thickened, but not cooled and hardened. It's a fine line.
- Continue mixing for about 8-10 minutes....
- You will notice that the mixture will turn white and begin to expand.
- How to know when it is ready:
- If it is still pourable, it is not ready
- It should be slightly sticky
- The bottom of the bowl should be warm to the touch, but not hot or cold.
- Before you stop the mixer, add the vanilla, and mix thoroughly
- Once you have determined that it's ready, work fast before it has a chance to cool.
- I like to use a spatula to transfer the mixture into a piping bag (or ziploc bag). This is not the easiest of tasks... the mixture will immediately start sticking to the bag. Just transfer as much as you can... but do not worry about scraping the bowl clean... you don't have time to be particular about those kinds of things.
- It is MUCH easier to add the mixture into the mold cavities with a piping bag instead of a spoon. Believe me - I've tried both ways!
- Once the molds are filled, set aside for at least 5 hours to set, the longer the better.
- Very carefully pull the silicone tray away from the marshmallows.
- They can be stored in an air tight container for a week or so.
- I have found that the marshmallows are at their best on day 2 or 3. They seem to harden just slightly.
These are so adorable! Thank you for sharing!
Of course Myrna! So glad you like them!!
I wish you were my neighbor so I would have someone to do this kind of stuff with. I think I would be more motivated to make creepy weird stuff if I had a friend that also wanted to do it. I’m just not motivated to be crafty by myself!
Lisa… haha! I would kill to have a neighbor to do creepy crafts with!