Shouldn't Marshmallows Be White?

Whenever I think of marshmallows, I instantly think of the big commercial kind you find in the grocery store in the States as well as their tiny counterparts that go so well in hot chocolate.  Both are freakishly (and probably unnaturally) white, but taste oh so ridiculously good on a S'Mores.

So, when I stepped into what I thought was my last pastry class (woo hoo, we are having one more on Monday!), I was surprised to find that we would be making marshmallows, or guimauves in French.  Apparently, in France, many patisseries make guimauves in all kinds of flavors and colors.  It was now our turn to try.  Let me put it this way, I won't be rushing home to open up a marshmellow shop anytime soon.

It all started with some gelatine.

Then sugar and water which was heated to around 125 degrees C.

While the sugar was boiling, my partner in crime for the day, Sonja, whipped some egg whites.

The hot sugar mixture goes into the egg whites.

Followed by the gelatine.

And everything is mixed together.  Sonja and I decided first to do lemon flavored guimauves, but changed our minds and decided we wanted to do lime instead  So, we grabbed the green coloring and...

Oops! Should have used a slight bit less to achieve lime green.  This was more like slime green from the TV show Double Dare.

Regardless, into the molds it went.

Estee decorating her orange and herb flavored marshmallows.  Yes, herbs.

After sitting for a while, it was time to cut the marshmallows and put more powdered sugar on them. 

So that they look like this, which to me is totally unappetizing.

We should have stuck with lemon.  These look much better!

The final platter with all the guimauves we made!