How do you make marshmallows? (PICS)

My second attempt at making marshmallows has gone so swimmingly much better than my first that I felt words could not do the difference justice. Fortunately, I have a whole lot of photographic equipment I should be using to shoot rockstars and naked people. But there isn't a lot of budget for that sort of thing in the current economy. So here is my marshmallows visual aid. Both batches were made with roughly the same recipe.

This time, when I heated the sugar, I was very careful to mix it thoroughly. I also set the candy thermometer to sound the alarm at a lower temperature than I was aiming for, and I aimed for a temp approx seven degrees cooler than last time. Plus I heated the gelatin. The result has only been setting for a few hours, so it is not quite ready for me to melt down portions to make crispy rice treats. But I think it is definitely going to work well this time.

Full disclosure: The really gross-looking glop on the left tasted more like a fruit glace and caramel than marshmallows and it made the crispy rice treats kinda soggy. But it actually was pretty yummy too.

Because marshmallows are made with only the whites of eggs, I now feel compelled to make crème brulée with every batch. Crème brulée is surprisingly easy to make, especially as compared with marshmallows.