Pumpkin spice marshmallows

If you want to make a really easy and fun dessert for guests, and impress them by setting fire to your living room, make indoor s'mores with pumpkin spice marshmallows. They're ridiculously easy, and most people are really impressed that marshmallows can taste good and not like those round tubes of plastic sugar (aka commercially-produced marshmallows) from the supermarket.

There's chocolate hiding under all that melted marshmallow.

Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows

Adapted from Ina Garten's basic marshmallow recipe

Ingredients

3 packages unflavored gelatin

1/2 cold water

1 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 Tbs vanilla extract

1/2 c pumpkin puree

2 tsp of your choice of:

-pumpkin pie spice

-all spice

-cardamom

-cinnamon

-ground Saigon cinnamon

-nutmeg

Powdered sugar for dusting

Method

-Combine the gelatin and cold water in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk attachment.

-In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the white and brown sugars, corn syrup, and salt, and stir until the sugar dissolves.

-Turn the heat up to high, and cook until a candy thermometer registers 240 degrees

-Remove from heat

-Turn the mixer on low and slowly pour in the sugar syrup. (Be very careful as the mixer can spit hot candy into your face.)

-When the syrup is fully incorporated, turn the mixer up to high and leave it until the mixture is very thick and fluffy

-Add the vanilla, pumpkin puree, and spices; incorporate

-Grease a large casserole dish (I used a 13" x 9" Pyrex baking dish) and then dust it heavily with powdered sugar. It's very important to use a LOT of powdered sugar in the dish because it will be easier to remove the marshmallow.

-Pour the hot mixture into the prepared dish, sprinkle more powdered sugar on top, and leave the dish uncovered overnight to set.

-The next day, use a serrated knife to cut the marshmallows into bite-sized pieces, and roll each marshmallow in powdered sugar.

Serve with graham crackers, chocolate, wooden skewers, and a can of sterno in an oven proof bowl. This bowl will get hot, so you should put the bowl on a plate or trivet.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but I swear it's really easy and satisfying. This recipe is fool-proof as long as you heat the sugar syrup to the right temperature. You might want to put a kitchen towel over the mixer as you whip the syrup into the gelatin. This will stop you from finding marshmallow dots all over your walls.

For my marshmallows I used quite a bit of Saigon cinnamon and cardamom, with less pumpkin pie spice and all spice. Taste the mix before you pour it into the dish to make sure that you like the flavor. The basic recipe can be used to make all kinds of flavored marshmallows.

If you have a lot of leftover 'mallows, you should try dipping some in melted chocolate and then topping them with sprinkles. I did that last year and people were impressed. Sprinkles. That's all it takes.