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Marshmallow Sauce
3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup milk 1/2 pound marshmallows 2 tablespoons water Boil the sugar and milk until the sirup threads. When almost cold, beat until thick and white. Set in boiling water and stir until thin enough to pour. Stir the marshmallows with the water in a double boiler until smooth. Pour the sirup over the melted marshmallows and beat together. Keep-warm, but not hot.
A two-part sauce: a beaten sugar syrup folded into melted marshmallow. The whole thing hinges on the syrup stage and on keeping the finished sauce warm but never hot.
- "Until the sirup threads"This is the thread stage, usually put at somewhere around 230F on a candy thermometer, though charts vary. Boil the sugar and milk in a heavy pan; at that point a spoon lifted from the pan trails a fine thread rather than dropping in beads.
- Why you beat it coldBeating the cooled syrup until thick and white crystallises it slightly, the way fondant is made. That is what gives the sauce its opaque, creamy body instead of a clear glassy syrup. Rewarming over boiling water then loosens it to pouring consistency.
- Half a pound of marshmallows8 oz, or roughly 30 of the standard large marshmallows sold today; modern bags come in various sizes, so weigh rather than counting the bag. Miniature marshmallows melt faster and more evenly.
- Two tablespoons of water is not a typoIt looks scant, but it is only there to help the marshmallows begin melting, and extra water would leave the finished sauce thinner once the syrup goes in.
- Double boiler, and keep it gentleMarshmallow scorches and turns stringy over direct heat. Use a bowl over barely simmering water, stir until smooth, and take it off before it starts to bubble.
- Warm, not hotToo hot and the sauce goes runny and will melt a scoop of ice cream; cold, it stiffens. Hold it in a bowl set over warm water and stir occasionally.
- YieldPerhaps a cup and a half to two cups, though the recipe does not say. Leftovers can be reheated gently over warm water.