Marshmallow Baby Rattles

The marshmallow saga has not slowed down, in spite of the fact that I do occasionally make other things; this week, I discovered that it is very easy to cut my marshmallow recipe out in simple shapes. In this case, I cut the marshmallows out in circles in order to make marshmallow baby rattles for a baby shower. As you see above, the result was quite cute, and very importantly, had good taste and texture.

Once the marshmallow recipe was mixed together with its flavoring (I made the whole batch one flavor this time), it was poured into a pan that let it spread to about 1.5 cm in thickness. After setting for 24 hours, it was ready to be cut out.

Here's a photo sequence that details the steps:


Using a biscuit cutter that was dipped in powdered sugar, I cut out as many circles as I could from the batch.


To prevent continued sticking, I dipped the cutter in sugar before cutting each circle.


The circles pulled away from the parchment paper without a problem, since the paper had been dusted with powdered sugar as the original recipe suggests.


I rolled the cut-out marshmallows in complementary sugar coatings (granulated sugar and orange zest pictured on an orange-extract marshmallow)


and set them out to dry for another 24-48 hours. The longer they sit out, the chewier and the more solid they become; the increased firmness assisted the remainder of the rattle-forming process, since the marshmallows are initially super soft and fluffy. In the end, they were still very light days after they were first made, but held their shape a bit better because they had been sitting out.


After they had dried and firmed up over several days, I cut a small slit in each one with a knife, and then inserted the stick and dipped the backside in melted chocolate, also securing the stick with a dab of chocolate. And with the extra chocolate, amused myself à la Jackson Pollock. They would have been fun with little jingle bells tied on the finished packages, so I guess I'll have to make them again sometime. Perhaps I should also mention that they were fun to eat, tasted good, and the nice light marshmallow fit very well with the chocolate coating.

Next marshmallow adventure: piping it into shapes!