Super quick and easy homemade hot chocolate kits with homemade marshmallows makes a great party gift on a cold winter day. Send your guests home with a kit to make a cozy cup of hot chocolate when they get home and don’t forget to fix up a big batch so you have plenty for yourself.
The homemade marshmallows are so delicious you’ll never go back to buying the store-bought version. Adding cardamom or other spices makes them even more festive. If you like a thick marshmallow to float in your mug, you can use these directions instead.
Be sure to check out all the other recipes from my holiday special, Holiday Party with Andrew & Zoë!
Servings: 48 Marshmallows
Ingredients
- Softened butter for preparing the pan
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 12 sheets silver gelatin or 3 packets powdered gelatin
- 1 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (240g) light corn syrup
- Pinch kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ginger extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 13×18-inch half sheet tray (or smaller/deeper baking dish if you prefer thicker marshmallows) with butter and then dust generously with powdered sugar.
- Submerge the gelatin sheets in a large bowl of water. (If you are using the powder gelatin, dissolve the 3 packets in 1/2 cup of water in the bowl of your stand mixer.) Once the gelatin has softened, squeeze some of the excess water out. Place it in a small saucepan. (If using the powdered, just leave it in the bowl of the stand mixer, no need to melt it.) Melt the sheet gelatin over low heat, stirring once in a while, until totally melted. Turn off the heat and leave in the pan until ready to use.
- In a second saucepan cook the sugar, corn syrup and 1/2 cup water, until it reads 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Turn off the heat. Quickly pour the melted gelatin sheets into your mixer. Turn the mixer on low-speed and carefully pour in the hot sugar syrup along the side of the bowl, being careful that it doesn’t hit the whip attachment.
- Once you have all the syrup in the bowl, add the salt, turn the speed up to high and let it mix for about 10 to 12 minutes. The marshmallow will be light, fluffy and cooled to nearly room temperature. Add the ginger extract and ground cardamom and mix until combined.
- Pour the marshmallow into the pan and quickly smooth with an offset spatula. Allow to sit for at least 3 hours or overnight to completely set. To cut, dust the marshmallows and work surface generously with powdered sugar. Butter the blade of a knife or small cookie cutters and cut into desired shapes. Dust with more sugar to prevent from sticking. The marshmallows will hold their shape and can be stored in an airtight container for a week. You want to make sure they are well coated with powdered sugar or they will stick together.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Servings: 5.5 cups cocoa mix
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) confectioners' sugar
- 1 cup (118g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 cups (170g) powdered milk
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cardamom cinnamon or other baking spices
For Serving
- Homemade Marshmallows See Above Recipe
- Hot Milk
Instructions
- Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Store the mixture in an airtight container. To serve, use about 1/4 cup of hot cocoa per 1 cup hot milk and stir well to combine.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
I bought your cake book and tried the marshmallows. They came out great. Today I made half the recipe. I think I shouldn’t have beaten it so long. After 6 minutes I stopped and it was all a gooy mess. Can I even make just half the recipe?
Hi Angelika, sorry to hear you had this issue! When you halved the recipe, it’s likely that it didn’t need to be whipped for as long as a full batch. It probably cooled down too much and tightened. So you can halve it, but the timing will be different.