Twas that time of year, when I found myself back on the TGV (high speed train) from Zürich to Paris with sweets on my mind. You might think that after a few days of nonstop visits to pâtisseries, boulangeries and chocolate and sweet shops, I might be all sugared out. Not at all; I was just getting warmed up for the Salon du Chocolat, now in its 16th year, and with shows all around the world, even Cairo and Moscow.
My first foray into the art of homemade marshmallows brought me mint chocolate squares. Resembling little brownies, they were just as irresistible. Readers all shouted – S’mores – and so, I stuck a few on a fork and roasted them over a candle (electric stovetop being the deterrent here). Not bad at all. They even got that black outer layer some of us strive for over the campfire. Next up were espresso marshmallows, and boy did I have fun with those. Hence part 3, the final in the marshmallow series and by far the most irresistible!
As I learned in part one of this series, making homemade marshmallows is rather simple. I am kicking myself for not having tried sooner! Now the ice has been broken, and this surely won’t be the last time I am up to my ears in cornstarch and sticky deliciousness. I have a list of different flavors I’d like to try next, fun shapes to make using my cookie cutters, and plenty more creative ideas of how to use them. First up was chocolate mint marshmallows. For part two here, it’s marshmallows using the same base of ingredients – sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, water. And the same basic steps too: mix water with gelatin, heat sugar and corn syrup, pour cooked sugar into gelatin mixture while beating.
This time, no egg whites. But a whole lot more beating time. So here’s one recipe where I would definitely say that having a stand mixer is a good thing, if not necessary. You may have arms like Popeye and an unlimited amount of patience, but I am not quite sure a hand mixer would be strong enough to withstand this heavy and thick a mixture. (I’ll have to give it a go and report back, hopefully with hand mixer still intact!) Fortunately I was with a friend who has a heavy duty stand mixer – and high quality espresso powder. And so it went, batch two: espresso marshmallows! Coffee being my very favorite flavor of confections and ice cream and chocolate bars, these were my favorite! So soft and fluffy too, squishy like the perfect homemade marshmallow should be!
The 4th of July passed not too long ago, and friends back in the States emailed me their photos of red, white and blue themed BBQ’s, with hamburgers, corn on the cob and homemade pies, along with fireworks and bonfires on the beach. This last image was my favorite, with thoughts of summer camp and roasting marshmallows around the campfire coming to mind. Some kids roasted them until they were soft and just slightly browned, but I left them over the fire until they were completely black and burnt on the outside – the exterior crisp and weightless, the middle melted and gooey. Marshmallows are a part of my childhood. And by that, I mean bags of Kraft’s white Jet-Puffed marshmallows for making S’mores and Rice Krispies Treats.
Then I moved to France and discovered multi-colored guimauve, French style marshmallows. They are most commonly seen as long strips of delicate confections, proudly on display in the city’s pastry shops. Fancy chocolate shops sometimes have more familiar cubes too, even with exotic flavors and herbs.
It is true that on my way to Paris, I was still thinking about macarons I had tasted in New York City. But I will also admit that it did not take too long for me to shift gears and focus on the Parisian gâteaux here once I arrived. And so, as is usually the case, I went right to one of my favorite pastry shops in the city – which is hands down one of the capital’s most attractive too. Pain de Sucre is an absolute eye-catcher on rue Rambuteau – a popular street in Paris that either leads you to the funky, unmissable Centre Pompidou and bustling area of Les Halles in one direction, or going the other way, transforms into the Marais’ high end, fashionable rue des Francs-Bourgeois. You may just stay put though – you’ll be immediately drawn in by the beautiful, tall glass jars in the window, filled with big, square, fluffy marshmallows.
The first thing I do is check out the day’s flavors, which always include a colorful range of fruits and spices – you can see to the left dark chocolate coated in coconut, saffron/Piment d’Espelette and Campari. On other visits of mine, there have been such flavors as Matcha green tea, rose water, quince and chicory, the latter being a favorite of mine. Light and satisfying, they’re almost sponge-like in texture. That’s a good thing.
Their exquisite square tarts are also a good thing; the fruits lined up in impeccable rows and glistening on display. But they are not just pretty to look at; they are incredibly delicious as well.
But back to those macarons…
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