KDRose.com - Wanderlust, Grounded
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Links

The Mixer and the Marshmallows

12/29/2011

6 Comments

 
This is how this story ends. 
Picture
Though, I can say, this story doesn’t end badly.  No, any story that ends in clouds of white, fluffy marshmallows must, inevitably end very well. 

We decided to make marshmallows.  Ever since I saw Martha Stewart discussing marshmallows with her daughter, Alexis, I’ve wanted to see how they were made and (of course) do it myself.  Alexis claimed that they were very simple and oh, so EASY.

She wasn’t lying.  But then again, just because something is simple doesn’t mean you can’t get yourself all mixed up in it and try to mess it up, anyway. 
Picture
These are not the marshmallows we made.  Marshmallows need to setup overnight, so these ones were made by the one woman who knew what she was doing, the day before.  These marshmallows were very nice, indeed.  

Let me back up for you.  The Bee has the week off.  The Bee is my mother’s long time best friend.  The Bee’s oldest son is about the same age and childhood friends with my older brothers.  Now that they’re into their 30s, you can imagine that we’ve known The Bee and her husband for a long enough time to consider them more than just family friends.  The thing about The Bee is that she’s always, well…busy.  She’s constantly buzzing around, coming up with new ideas, working, reading, hiking…thinking.  She’s very busy, indeed.  So when The Bee took a week off of work for the holidays, you knew that there was going to be something going on. 

Since the Bee has the week off, she asked her friend, who knows a thing or two about making marshmallows, to come and make a batch with us. 

That’s how we ended up with the perfectly finished mallows in tow.

Martha and Alexis said that marshmallows are simple and they certainly are.  Sugar, corn syrup, water and flavoring are all it takes.  You have to boil them until 244*F (this is candy, after all) and then you have beat them until they get big. 

We really were doing fine up until the beating part. 

We poured in the hot, cooked mess and let the mixer roll.  We turned it up high.  The Bee said she’d never set the mixer that high before.  The recipe calls for 15 minutes at high speed, until it triples in size.  About three minutes in and the light, almost indistinguishable smell of burning begins to fill the air.  No fear.  Let’s make the mixer work.  We soldier on.  The thick white mass begins to double, then triple in size.  The twenty year old mixer which, up until this point has worked just fine, thank you, starts giving off a whining sound and the smell becomes more intensified.  We stop the beaters, discuss our options and turn it back on.

Suddenly the white begins rapidly creeping up the beaters and a giant mass forms on the underside of the mixer. We stop and scrape.  The situation is assessed.  Only two minutes left.  We persist.  Scraping and hoping, the air filling with smoke the timer finally beeps.  The glossy white fluff goes into the pans and the cooks, having survived the intensity of the moment, reward ourselves with a few tastes of the soft and fluffy mallow straight from the bowl. 

Sugar in pan, now its time to assess the damage.  The seemingly innocuous white fluff has made its way into the bowels of the machine, snaking its way through the air vents in the bottom of the handle.  Mom and The Bee clean away much of the mess which dissolves quite easily.  Some of the fluff has the tale tell signs of desiccated roasted, marshmallows.  The innards are a bit of a trick and The Bee and I find ourselves on our knees, Q-Tips in hand scraping at the last bits of marshmallow sticking to the insides of the mixer. 

Miraculously, we dislodge the last remaining bits of desiccated white.

Time to let the mixer cool down and dry.  Only time will tell if our little hero will make it through the night.  The marshmallow is cooling in the pan and the cooks are rewarded with a bite of perfectly made marshmallow.

The story doesn’t end badly.  How could it, when the ending involves white clouds of fluffy, gooey marshmallow?
6 Comments
The Bee
12/29/2011 05:31:27 am

Alas, the 20 year old mixer is no longer with us! As predicted, The Husband took a brief, cursory look at the now clean mixer and proclaimed immediately that of course it could not be as bad the story related. He then grabbed a handy Phillips screwdriver (always an essential kitchen utensil) and opened the mixer head exposing the damaged innards. "Wow! How did you do THIS?" he queried. The motor parts had bits of singed marshmallow fluff smeared throughout. Essential connections were permanently glued with burned sugar crust. The fan which cools the motor (thus the burning smell) was frozen in marshmallow. Without hesitation he declared the mixer deceased and threw it in the garbage! This was a first in my lifetime. I have never, ever, ever in 35 years of marriage seen him throw away an appliance. Hmmm...I wonder if the Macys ad is in the mail today...

Reply
Katie link
12/29/2011 10:17:55 am

So now we know the outcome. If The Husband (moniker TBD) declared it dead, then you know it MUST BE. I guess 20 years worth of mixing means you got your money's worth.

Reply
Slenderella Newman
12/29/2011 08:25:29 am

This calls for an immediate intervention done with loving friends and a dose of retail therapy at Bed Bath and Beyond ...

Reply
Katie link
12/29/2011 09:28:18 am

Yes SN, I think we're going to make it through! All in the name of culinary adventures (and fun!).

Reply
Wendy
12/29/2011 10:54:55 am

Hope they come out. Poor beater sounds like its dust. 20 years is good!

Reply
Karen V. link
1/2/2012 10:12:07 pm

Yummy! If it had to go, this was the way, eh? ;)

Makes me wonder though, how ARE you supposed to beat it like that without getting the goop all in there?

Happy New Year!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Katie

    Baker. Traveler. Writer.

    Archives

    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    March 2017
    November 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    December 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    August 2014
    June 2014
    January 2014
    October 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    October 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.