Chocolate Marshmallows

                                                                         

  At the holidays I get on a Marshmallow kick & I always wanted to play around with flavors. I decided to try a Chocolate Marshmallow. These are chocolatey & with almond flavoring & a dusting of powdered sugar & cocoa. Soft & decadent in MARSHMALLOW LUSHNESS these are IT! I cut one open so you could see the marshmallow center. ENJOY !

3 Packets of Knox gelatin
1/2 Cup of cold water
Whisk the water & gelatin together in a very large deep bowl & let sit 1/2 hour.

Next step:
Blend together 1 Cup Powdered Sugar & 4 Tbs, Cocoa. Butter a 9x13 pan or smaller pan for Marshmallows with height . These are from a 9x13 pan . Once your pan is buttered coat with a dusting of the sugar & cocoa mix. Save the remaining mix for coating tops & sides of the marshmallows.
Cooking :
In a VERY DEEP pot place all of the following ingredients.
1 & 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Cocoa
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup                 
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Water

2 Tsp Almond Flavoring added to the mix as your beating the marshmallow! If you are not into almond use vanilla Extract ! ( I LOVE chocolate almond so that is why I chose it, use what you prefer, could be mint too!)

Cook over low heat until sugar & cocoa are melted. Whisk while doing this. NOW LET THE FUN BEGIN!   Cook over high until mixture comes to 244 degrees. This will come up very high in the pan so do not be alarmed. DO NOT STIR during this process! You will be tempted & you might even think the mixture is burning IT ISN'T ! Let her go & boil baby boil ! As soon as mixture is at 244 degrees remove from heat ! 244 degrees is firm ball test in a cold glass of water. If you do not have a candy thermometer just drop a small blob of the candy mixture into the cold water. If the blob turns into a soft but definite firm but soft ball EUREKA that's IT !

Slowly pour hot chocolate mix into the gelatin beating on low. Once all the chocolate is poured in beat on high for 15 minutes. This will look watery & syrupy until about 10 minutes into beating but it turns lighter in color . Beat in the almond flavoring ! Suddenly it turns glossy & goes to marshmallow. FUN! FUN! FUN ! YUM! YUM! YUM!  Beat until you have reached the 15 minute mark. Now pour & spoon mixture into your prepared pan. Coat the top of the marshmallow with the powdered sugar & cocoa mixture. Save what is left for coating the sides of the marshmallows once they have been cut ! Gently smooth the sugar, cocoa mix over the top surface of the 9x13 pan. Let sit out overnight UNCOVERED so these can dry out a bit. The next day take a sharp paring knife & slice into squares. Coat the cut edges with the sugar, cocoa powder. Store in airtight container with wax paper between layers ! OH BOY ! Are these SCRUMPTIOUS!   This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen marshmallows.