Homemade Hot Chocolate and Marshmallows

deHomemade Hot Chocolate
Makes 4- 1/2 cup hot chocolate mix and 4- 1 cup liquid hot chocolate servings

3/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used unsweetened Ghirardelli cocoa)
3 ounces semi- sweet chocolate

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Take the semi-sweet chocolate and roughly chop it up to give a chunky but consistent size. Mix well with a wooden spoon and then store in a dry airtight container. To make the hot chocolate, simply add 1 cup of water per 1/2 cup of hot cocoa mix. Heat in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring with a whisk. Heat until hot, but do not boil, about 6 to 7 minutes. Serve with marshmallows.

Variations:
Instead of cinnamon try crushed peppermint candy
Add a small pinch of ginger and nutmeg with the cinnamon for a spicy, Jacques Torres Style hot chocolate
courtesy of: Citrus


Homemade Marshmallows

You can download the Your Heart Out recipe card here.

You’ll need:

• 4 gelatin envelopes
• 1½ c. water
• 1½ tsp. peppermint extract, or less
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract, or less
• 3 c. sugar
• 1¼ c. corn syrup
• candy-canes, crushed to make 1½ c.

1. Coat a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray for extra thick marshmallows. Or coat one 9 x 13- and one 8 x 8-inch pan with cooking spray for medium thickness. Cut parchment paper to fit and line bottoms of pan(s). Then coat parchment paper with spray.

2. Put sugar, corn syrup and ¾ cup water in a saucepan and bring to boil with lid on. Once boiling, remove lid and continue to boil without stirring until candy thermometer registers 240 F. (While you’re waiting, it’s a good time to work on steps 3 and 4.)

3. Place candy-canes inside a plastic bag and the place within another plastic bag and crush. We used the end of a rolling pin.

4. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine ¾ cup water, peppermint extract and vanilla extract. Then sprinkle gelatin over the liquid. Let sit.

5. With mixer on low, pour sugar/corn syrup mixture into the gelatin mixture. Be really careful as mixture is very hot and pan could be heavy. You might want to employ a splashguard. When all is poured in, raise speed to high. Mix until very fluffy, usually 10 minutes.

6. Pour mixture into lined pan(s) and pat down with offset spatula smothered in cooking spray. Sprinkle 1-2 cups of crushed candy-cane over the top and carefully pat in. Let sit uncovered in a clean space for at least 10 hours.

7. Remove from try and cut with scissors or knife coated in cooking spray. Dip edges and bottoms generously in confectioners sugar to buffer sticking.

Enjoy!

Though the recipe is different, DesignSponge beat us to the punch yesterday and made this informative video to show you how it’s done!

courtesy of: Your Heart Out