Marshmallow Candy Cups

Lord Almighty, the temperature's rising! It is indescribably hot and humid here in Israel to the point where it's difficult to breathe! I would give anything right now for a pool in my backyard but I guess that'll just have to wait a few weeks. Anyway, it's one of those seasons where you'd be crazy to turn on the oven. Well, I am crazy, and I bake in any season, but I decided to make something last weekend that didn't require turning on the oven. I've been wanting to make homemade marshmallows for a really long time (and I will!) so when I saw these Marshmallow Candy Cups in the most recent Baked cookbook, I thought it would be a good place to start. I did some research and these got rave reviews all around so out came the gelatin! These babies are a bit time intensive and because of the humidity have got to be stashed in the fridge at every stage to get them right. You start with melting some chocolate and brushing the inside of mini muffin cups with it. Then goes the marshmallow and they're topped with some more chocolate to seal the deal. I have to say, I was totally skeptical that some sugar syrup and gelatin was going to turn into ooey gooey yummy marshmallow, but after extensive beating, I'm glad to say they did. These babies were really well received and I'm happy to have this recipe in my files... but for a cooler day! I didn't have any milk chocolate on hand just some dairy bittersweet chocolate so I used a mix of that and regular dark chocolate. Although I halved the recipe, I still had plenty of chocolate leftover so you can afford to be generous with it.
Marshmallow Candy Cups
from Baked Explorations

Chocolate Exteriors:
16 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
8 ounces good quality milk chocolate, chopped

Marshmallow:
2 1/2 tsp kosher gelatin
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt

Arrange 30 miniature muffin cups on a baking sheet.
In a saucepan, gently and carefully heat the chocolates until almost melted. Allow the residual heat to melt it the rest of the way, stirring to smooth it out.

Using a small spoon, spoon some of the chocolate into each cup, brushing the chocolate up the sides using the back of the spoon. Place in the refrigerator to set.

Meanwhile, begin making the marshmallow. In the bowl of your stand mixer, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, place the sugar and 1/4 cup of water and stir together. Bring the mixture to a boil, without stirring, until it reaches 235 degrees.
Remove the pan from the heat and slowly stream it into the gelatin. Whisk for thirty seconds to release excess heat. Attach the whisk attachment and mix on medium-high for five minutes. Add the vanilla and salt and continue to whisk for two minutes until the mixture is white and fluffy and thick. It should be slightly looser than soft peaks.

Working quickly, using a small spoon, spoon the marshmallow into each of the prepared cups. Place in the fridge until the tops are slightly firm.

Finish the cups by spooning some of the remaining chocolate over each cup. If the chocolate has hardened, briefly heat or microwave it. Chill and keep chilled until ready to serve. These melt fast but they go faster!