Beety Marshmallows and Hot Beet Cocoa!

Cooking with Jane, Recipes

I will say this is a bit of an endeavour and choosing to take this on upon one of our busier weekday nights was perhaps unwise. HOWEVER! GLORY FOR THE BLOG!

Making marshmallows can be easy and fun! It has been in the past! It was not so this time but it was not due to the addition of beet water. The beet water was a grand success. As was the Beet Cocoa! A beautiful colour and such a rich flavour – a perfect blend of beet and chocolate, although I will say that the recipe below may be too sweet for some palates if it includes the sweetened condensed milk.

This could be excellent for a halloween drink because it makes your mouth and hands red, and as the marshmallows melt, they look like little BRAINS floating around in there. Definitely probably more work than any normal person would exert to consume hot chocolate and/or a handful of beets, but also way more fun.

Here goes!

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Hot Beet Cocoa

Ingredients

  • 2.5 cups peeled beets
  • 6-8 cups milk or full-fat coconut milk
  • 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk optional
  • 3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch sea salt

Instructions

  1. Chop and steam the beets over a goodly pot of water, making sure to reserve about 2 cups of the purple water once finished.
  2. Add milk of choice (and sweetened condensed milk if you’re going that way) to a medium-size saucepan and gently steam over medium-low heat until it’s hot, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully pour it into a high-powered blender.
  3. To the blender, add the steamed beets, cocoa, sweetener of choice, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Immediately blend for at least 25 seconds until the beets in the hot chocolate are fully incorporated and a frothy foam is on top of the hot chocolate.
  4. Depending on the quality of your blender, and your preference, you may want to then strain the hot choco through a sieve or tea strainer as you serve up.
  5. Pour into mugs and enjoy immediately.
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Beety Marshmallows

Ingredients

  • 500 g / 2.5c white sugar
  • 2/3 cup beet water
  • ½ cup water for the gelatin
  • 7 tsp gelatin about 3 packets of Knox gelatin 21. 6 g
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp cardamom optional
  • 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar sifted

Instructions

  1. Place the sugar in the saucepan and pour the beet water along the edge of the saucepan. Make an “X” in the sugar using your finger – wall to wall, to let the water spread and moisten the sugar. Pick a bigger saucepan than you might initially think… trust us.
  2. Heat over medium-high heat until the sugar syrup comes to a boil. Gently swirl the pan to evenly distribute the heat.
  3. Cover the saucepan with a lid and lower the heat to medium. Let the syrup cook for 2 minutes. Do not lift the lid at this point.
  4. After 2 minutes, remove the lid and check to make sure there are no sugar crystals on the side of the saucepan. If there are crystals, then cover the saucepan for a further minute to allow the condensation to wash down the sugar crystals into the syrup.
  5. Clip a sugar thermometer to the side of the saucepan, and wait until the temperature gets to between 242 – 245°F. Let the sugar syrup cook until it reaches this temperature. It will bubble and the bubbles will become very large! A thrill!
  6. While the sugar syrup is cooking, prepare the gelatin. Place ½ cup of water in the mixer bowl. Add the gelatin to the water and mix to moisten the gelatin. Set aside to allow the gelatin to bloom while the sugar syrup is cooking (at least 10 minutes). Place the bowl in your mixer, with the whisk attachment.

  7. When the sugar syrup reaches the right stage, remove it from the heat and let the bubbles subside. While the mixer is running on medium – low speed, pour the sugar syrup into the gelatin, along the wall of the bowl (this is to prevent the gelatin from being scorched by the hot sugar syrup). Add the salt and cardamom and increase the speed to medium – high.

  8. Whisk on medium – high for 3 – 5 minutes until the marshmallow base is doubling in size and is white, fluffy and smooth. Mix for a further 3 -5 minutes on high speed, allowing the marshmallow to volumize more (upto 3 times). Do not mix if the marshmallow base is already cooled down, as this will create tough marshmallows. This part is an absolute joy.
  9. While the marshmallow base is whisking, prepare the pan and utensils you will be using. Rub an 8 x 8 inch pan with shortening or butter (you can line this pan with parchment paper if you prefer – we actually used a rimmed cookie tray in hopes of creating slightly faster setting smol marshmallows!). Brush all the utensils – spoon, spatulas with the same fat as well.
  10. Add the vanilla to the marshmallow base and whisk for a further minute on high speed to combine the vanilla.
  11. Scrape the marshmallow base into the prepared pan using an oiled cake spatula or flexible scraper. Spread the marshmallow evenly in the pan using the oiled spatula.
  12. Sieve confectioner’s sugar over the top of the marshmallow and allow the marshmallow to set for at least 6 hours.

  13. Once they've fully set, cut with a greased knife and roll in a bit of corn starch to store them! Or, as we did, throw them immediately into a cup of PINK COCOA!