Review of Good Eats – Puff the Magic Mallow

One of the things I like the most about Good Eats, is that Alton makes things from scratch most people would never thing of. Take marshmallows. If someone wants marshmallows, they just grab them off a shelf. The sad thing is most Americans will never know what a real marshmallow taste like. This episode of Good Eats, gives you the knowledge on how to make them yourself, so you can leave the bag of flavorless, chalky lumps on the shelf. As well as a recipe for basic marshmallows, Alton has a couple other tricks up his sleeve.

Homemade Marshmallows
You don’t need a lot of ingredients to make marshmallows and all of them are easy to find. Alton says that commercial marshmallows contain gum arabic as a stabilizer. But the home cook can turn to unflavored gelatin to accomplish the same thing. This can be found at any supermarket. It should be located near the packages of Jell-O. The other ingredients you will need are water, light corn syrup, sugar, and vanilla extract. The reason for two sweeteners is they are different types is to keep the crystals from getting together and making a grainy texture. You also need a candy thermometer and a stand mixer. In this episode Alton uses an Viking Stand Mixer instead of a Kitchen Aid model.

Moon Pies
Instead of just making regular marshmallows, Alton uses the filling in between two cookies. He then dips the top of each cookie in some melted chocolate. This is his version of a Moon Pie.

Ambrosia
Alton (or Colonel Bob Boatwright) uses his mini marshmallows to make Ambrosia. This combines the mallows with fruit, nuts, and cream.

Next time you need marshmallows for a recipe, make them yourself first. Not only are they good on their own, but they will make any recipe calling for marshmallows that much better. For all the recipes from the show, visit Food Network’s website.