Rose Water Marshmallows

This recipe sucks. Don’t even bother with it. The marshmallows tasted great and looked cool, but they were so sticky, it rendered them impractical for anything but sitting on a plate. I wanted to punch them in the face. Now that I think of it, I’m not really sure what they’re for, other than as a snack that drastically raises your blood sugar.

I’ve made my fair share of Bon Appetit recipes, and this is the first and only that turned out poorly. Was it my fault because I didn’t follow the directions properly? 50/50 chance, but I’m really careful when following recipes because it’s in my best interest for them to turn out.

Anyway, I don’t recommend trying to make these, but if you want to give it a try, the recipe is below. Please note that you’ll need a candy thermometer. If you make these and they turn out, please let me know, and I will hang my head in shame.

What you’ll need:

• Spray oil
• 0.5 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 0.5 oz. unflavored powdered gelatin
• 2 egg whites from large eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 0.25t rose water (or they give the option of orange-flower water)
• 1 or 2 drops of red food coloring

What to do:

Coat a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with spray oil and sprinkle the inside with 0.25 cups of powdered sugar. In a small bowl, combine the gelatin and 0.5 cups of cold water. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes, until the gelatin has softened.

With an electric mixer on medium-high, beat the egg whites for about 3 minutes, or until soft peaks form.  

Attach a candy thermometer to the side of a medium saucepan and bring the sugar and 0.5 cups of water to a boil over medium heat. While it is heating, stir to dissolve the sugar and brush the sides of the pan above the waterline with a wet pastry brush to keep sugar from recrystallizing there. After the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and boil the sugar mixture until the thermometer reaches 250 degrees–this seemed to take a really long time. Remove from heat and add the gelatin mixture, stirring well until dissolved.

Turn on your mixture to medium and slowly add the hot sugar mixture to the whipped egg whites. When it’s all added, crank the beater up to high-speed and beat until the mixture has cooled and about tripled in volume. Add one or two drops of red (or whatever color) good coloring and continue to beat until the color has been evenly distributed. There’s a slight food safety issue with this step, because the egg whites may not necessarily get to the 165 degrees that would kill any bacteria–it’s your call.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and let cool for at least 4 hours. When cooled, remove from pan (Ha!, lots of luck with that one!), cut into squares and sprinkle with remaining powdered sugar.