One of my favorite things about the approaching fall is toasting marshmallows and making s’mores. 

This summer I taught a pastry class, and one of the many recipes we made was homemade marshmallows. The students really enjoyed them, as did their families. 

Sometimes the whole reason to have a fire pit is to toast marshmallows and make S’mores. The gooey toasted marshmallow, the creamy and rich melting chocolate, and the satisfying crunch of the graham cracker- it’s all so simple and delightful. 

Often, I will use my oven set to broil to make them quickly inside. Place the top and bottom of the graham cracker on a tray, then top one piece with a piece of chocolate and the other piece with a marshmallow. Put it under the broiler just to perfectly toast the marshmallow, and it also softens the chocolate while lightly toasting the graham cracker. After that, pull them out of the oven, and stack them into sandwiches to enjoy. 

Recently I was scrolling though social media, which I attribute to researching modern food trends and ideas. For several weeks there were short videos about making a S’mores chocolate chip cookie. Some of the videos were comical fail videos, while the others really made me desire a delicious cookie, which I of course had to make. In the video, a square of graham cracker is placed on a cookie sheet, topped with a piece of a chocolate bar, a large marshmallow, and then the successful videos almost wrapped the stack in a thin layer of chocolate chip cookie dough. Throw it in the oven to bake. Sometimes the trends I see seem a little silly, but this one is a keeper. 

The origin of the marshmallow comes from the ancient Egyptians. They took the root of the mallow plant and boiled it with honey to create a thick pulp which was then strained and set to cool after which it was cut and served. It was reserved for gods and royalty.

As far as the origin of S’mores, the credit is given to Lorreta Scott Crew and was first seen in the Girl Scouts of America handbook, published in 1927. The name is the combination of the words “some” and “more”, and the logic follows that once you eat one of these delicious treats you will want “some more.”

Marshmallow

• 12" x 8” pan (quarter sheet pan)
• 18 g gelatin
• 1 c water
• 455 g sugar
• 55 g corn syrup
• 4 each egg whites
• 1 t vanilla
• Cornstarch and powdered sugar, equal parts, for dusting

1. Bloom gelatin in ½ cup water for 5 minutes. Then dissolve over heat, reserve warm.
2. Combine sugar, syrup and ½ cup water in pot and bring to boil.
3. Place egg whites in mixer with whisk.
4. Cook sugar to 230 degrees, turn egg whites to high speed at this point.
5. When sugar heats to 245 degrees, remove from heat and carefully pour into egg whites.
6. Add gelatin and vanilla and whisk until light and fluffy.
7. Spray pan with vegetable or coconut oil.
8. Sprinkle cornstarch/powdered sugar mixture onto sheet pan.
9. Pour marshmallow onto pan.
10. Sprinkle with more cornstarch.
11. Let cool completely, ideally 6 hours. Can use fridge. 
12. Cut with knife dipped in hot water and dried.
13. Toss in cornstarch and powdered sugar or dip them in melted chocolate.

About

Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.

Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.