Pink, Fluffy Beginnings :)

This is what inspired me to start food-blogging again: A perfect batch of pink marshmallows!

I've always wanted to make marshmallows. Not just because I absolutely love the puffy, fluffy sweet stuff (and hey, it's 99% fat-free ;p), but marshmallows belong to the category of "Wow! You made that?!" foods. Most people (and for many years, me included) have only seen (and eaten) the white, tubular ones that come in a bag from the supermarket, and they always make a special appearance at BBQs. Who can resist the crisp exterior? The warm gooey insides? The fun of toasting them on satay sticks and trying not to burn them too much? (Oh by the way, marshmallows are great with Lay's Sour Cream and Onion Chips too. But then again I'm weird that way :p)

And then one day, I saw homemade marshmallows on a food blog. And it was like there was sunshine and rainbows all around. They were huge, fluffy and looked like they weighed nothing at all. And they could be made with all kinds of wonderful flavours like peppermint, coffee, mango...But at that time I thought that making them would only result in a sticky mess, given our hideously humid climate. And then one day, my sister mentioned that she had a digital food thermometer, which is key in candy-making. Thus began my adventures into the world of marshmallow magic. It wasn't as hard as I thought! The mystery of marshmallows (did they fall from the sky?) was solved. Some gelatine, water, sugar, egg white and lots of air, and you get the lightest, prettiest marshmallows ever. I can never go back to the commercial stuff again...

This is actually my second batch. After whipping all that sugar and egg white, you get a whole tray of puffy stuff.

Which you can cut into squares (or any shape you want!)

But since the marshmallows will still be sticky...

They need to be tossed in cornstarch and icing sugar. In this case, I used snow powder instead because it doesn't melt in our sweltering heat

Now pop one in your mouth and enjoy! :) They're also really good with warm melted chocolate.