Peep Show

Fresh isn't always better.  I love using fresh ingredients whenever I can but there is one thing that I have always liked stale.  Peeps.  I credit my mom for my love of stale peeps.  I remember opening up the packages on Easter morning with her and then patiently waiting a week or two until they got hard and stale before eating them.  Now expecting a child to wait two weeks to eat candy is quite an undertaking, but I was always an exceptionally patient child (I can hear the laughter now from those of you who know me well).  Maybe not exceptionally patient but at least the exceptional part is true.  About five years ago we started to realize that even after leaving our Peeps to sit for many weeks they just weren't getting stale anymore.  I guess they must have added some more preservatives to make them stay "fresh" longer.  I haven't even bought a package of Peeps in the last few years because they just don't bring back the same happiness that they used to. 

While walking through the aisles of one of my favorite stores last week, Target, I saw this adorable little silicone bunny pan and I just had to have it.  At the time I wasn't quite sure what I was going to use it for but I knew it needed to come home with me and I could figure out the details later.

After I got it home I had a stroke of genius; I would make my own peeps!  Now I have never attempted marshmallows before because they seemed like one of those things that would make a huge mess and not turn out right and leave my kitchen covered in stickiness.  Also, although I own a candy thermometer, anything that actually requires me to use it scares me a little bit.  I was feeling courageous today and I have kind of been on a kick of taking things that I have always just purchased and trying to make them myself.

I started by turning to my friend Alton Brown from Good Eats for the marshmallow recipe.  I started by gathering my ingredients.

• 3 packages unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup ice cold water, divided
• 12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• Nonstick spray

 In the bowl of my stand mixer with the whisk attachment. I put the gelatin and 1/2 cup of the water and let that sit while I mixed up the rest of the concoction. 

In a saucepan over medium high heat I added the rest of the water, sugar, salt and corn syrup.  Cover and let this cook for about four minutes.  Then I removed the cover and put the candy thermometer in and let it continue cooking until it reached 240 degrees, it took about ten minutes.

Once it gets to temperature immediately remove it from the heat.  Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour the sugar mixture into the bowl.  The trick here is to pour the mixture down the side if the bowl and not onto the whisk.  If it gets on the whisk it will stick to the top of the whisk and not get incorporated into the gelatin mixture (big mess).  Once all of the sugar is added turn the mixer to high and let it mix for about 12 minutes, maybe more.  It should continue mixing until light and fluffy and lukewarm.  When it's just about done add the vanilla.  I added about twice the vanilla and a little almond extract as the reviews I read of the recipe said that if you follow it exactly they didn't have much flavor.

While this was whisking away I got my pan ready.  The recipe says to spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray and then coat it with a mixture of the powdered sugar and cornstarch.  I started with the non-stick spray and then took a pastry brush to make sure I had every little nook and cranny covered.  Next I got some hot pink sugar out of the cake closet and shook that around the pan until everything was pretty well coated.  I still had a few spots where I could see the pan so I covered everything in the powdered sugar/cornstarch and shook that around to make sure every area was covered.  I took every step to make sure the pan was covered because I was envisioning a sticky mess when trying to take them out of the pan later.

Now that I had my pan coated and the marshmallow was done it was time for the messy part.  I filled a disposable pastry bag with some of the marshmallow (it wouldn't all fit) and piped it into the bunny pan. 

This actually worked pretty well, much better than I anticipated.  It took me two piping bags to fill up the pan and then I still had some left over so I coated a small baking sheet and poured the rest out onto that.  It wasn't pretty but it tastes good and that was all that mattered.  Now that my bunny mold was filled I sprinkled some more pink sugar over the top and let them sit for a while.

Then it was time to wait.  The recipe says to wait four hours at least but as previously stated I have no patience so I let them sit for just an hour or two before trying to take them out of the pan.  To my surprise they popped right out and looked amazing!  I put them on a sheet of waxed paper and melted a little chocolate in the microwave to pipe on the face.  I put the chocolate in another disposable bag (I love these things!!) and piped on some eyes and a nose and my peeps were finished.  I snuck a bite of the marshmallow blob I made with my extras and they are amazing.  I'm not sure if they will stick around long enough to get stale but I don't really care.  These little guys are better fresh that the store bought ones could ever be stale.