Vintage Joy & Peppermint Marshmallows

We had our first snow of the season yesterday. Not enough to blanket the ground, but just a slow fluttering - softly falling all day. The kind of snow that makes you want to sit in front of the fire with a hot steaming cup of hot cocoa! While in the mood, I finished piecing a holiday layout using my favorite vintage yummies and Crafty Secrets images. I just love this color combination (sort of obsessed with it - lol!)





The vintage images were taken from Crafty Secret's Double Sided Christmas Creative Scraps. Love this set! SO versatile!



If your weather is starting to nip at your nose - and you are sipping some hot cocoa of your own - you must whip up a batch of these yummy peppermint marshmallows to plop into your steamy mug! Don't they just look delightful?! And what a perfect co-worker, boss, or teacher gift!

Ingredients

Makes sixteen 2-inch squares

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 4 packages (1/4 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons red food coloring

Directions

1. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray; line bottom with parchment paper. Coat the parchment with cooking spray, and set pan 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.
2. 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; set aside.
3. 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. Mix on high speed until very thick, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. Pour mixture into lined pan. Working quickly, drop dots of red food coloring across surface of marshmallow. Using a toothpick, swirl food coloring into marshmallow to create a marbleized effect. Let marshmallow stand, uncovered, at room temperature until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Cut into squares. From Martha Stewart Living