Serious Efforts: Liqueur-Flavored Marshmallows
This is my first post, and I hope it fits into the 'serious efforts' category. (If not, I apologize.) I recently came across a hot chocolate drink on a restaurant menu that was topped with Bailey's flavored marshmallows, and I really really want to make it at home. I'm familiar with the basic marshmallow recipe, and with variations that substitute an extract such as rum or peppermint for the vanilla, but I suspect I'll need more than a teaspoon of Bailey's to get the flavor to come through. My question is, can I substitute Bailey's for some of the water? If so, should I put it in the gelatin bloom or in the sugar syrup? Any suggestions would be most welcome!
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7 Comments:
I haven't substituted liqueurs for the water, but I've used fruit juices, even apple butter to replace some of the liquid used to bloom the gelatin, with no ill effects. A friend of mine did them with Earl Grey tea for Christmas with equal success.
My only caveat is that the flavor may dissappate pretty quickly - I know that my meyer lemon and blood orange efforts were best warm, but cooled to a less flavorful/fragrant state. Still delicious, but I was disappointed to have lost the intensity that they had when fresh out of the mixer.
cyberroo at 2:33PM on 01/13/09
Thanks! Can I ask how much of the water you replaced? I was thinking of halving my recipe (so using about 1/4 cup water to bloom the gelatin). I hadn't even thought of tea or apple butter; both sound delicious!
foodphilo at 2:38PM on 01/13/09
Apple butter with apple juice wasn't a huge success, but I also overdid the cinnamon in the coating, so it was a double whammy.
For the citrus-based ones, I replaced all of the water for blooming the gelatin with juice, and I'm pretty sure the tea was done the same way (with really strongly brewed tea). If you're planning to put the marshmallows in hot cocoa, they probably can't be too strong, so you might want to start by replacing all of it.
egullet.com has a HUGE, legendary thread on their forums about the various marshmallow combinations, so you might want to take a look over there for more information. I'm sure someone has tried liqueurs in that group.
cyberroo at 2:53PM on 01/13/09
Here is what they used http://www.spicebarn.com/irish_cream_flavoring.htm
you can buy it many places its called irish cream or irish mist flavoring.
Too much alcohol will make your marshmallows less marshmalowy.
Get the flavoring.
JerzeeTomato at 2:53PM on 01/13/09
Thanks so much, everyone! This is my first post and I didn't expect to get such great answers so quickly. I'll definitely be posting again! The flavoring looks great, JT, but I already have half a bottle of Bailey's in my cabinet (and I'm reeeeally broke right now-- part of the inspiration for doing this came from the fact that I already have all the ingredients in my cupboards), so I think I'm going to take my chances with adding that to the bloom-- I'll let you all know how it turns out!
foodphilo at 3:28PM on 01/13/09
JT does have a point - fat will hinder the fluffing of your marshmallows. I wasn't considering the "cream" part of the Bailey's. Because of that, you might want to scale back the amount of Bailey's you use in the bloom. But, again, if their ultimate destination is hot cocoa, texture isn't as critical.
You could add a bit more at the very end - I usually add peppermint extract after mixing, and I'm pretty heavy-handed.
cyberroo at 3:44PM on 01/13/09
Thanks so much, everyone. As predicted, the marshmallows were not super-fluffy, and ended up being more like mini-marshmallows. But this could also have been because I ignored all the advice about using a stand mixer and just used my handheld kitchen aid, which couldn't really handle the beating required. So I had to stop a little short of where I would've liked, to avoid burning out the motor (it was getting ridiculously hot). I would make homemade marshmallows again in a second-- they were delicious, and the bailey's flavor really came through-- but only using a stand mixer, and I would discourage anyone from using a handheld mixer for this.
foodphilo at 6:31PM on 01/21/09