Here’s what to make when you are too lazy to fire up the oven. And what to eat when you skip breakfast and forget to eat lunch because you are too busy trying to remember all the other things you forgot. Or what to pop in your mouth while crawling around on the ground trying to keep the ever-moving 10-month-old from eating dust bunnies.
These blueberry and jasmine tea marshmallows, they’re an any-time-of-day meal. Because I don’t even know what a real meal is anymore.
The baby thing has a way of warping time and reality. Minutes become lost hours, meals become cold bites between multi-tasking. It was like this the first time, but when it’s your first, you get to use that excuse—it’s your first. When it’s your second, the expectation is that you will have this mom thing down—things should be smooth, experience should arm you with a swift and deft mind to keep every thing well handled.
But the only thing keeping me well handled these days is an utterly adorable, irresistible, smiley-face, chubby baby who suckers me into his world. I’m not complaining I. LOVE. IT.
He even travelled with me and Matt on our last trip to Napa Valley where I joined the Blueberry Council at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for a little bootcamp. A boot camp filled with a cooking and tasting things paired with blueberries—that’s blueberries in all its form: fresh, dried, freeze-dried, powdered.
You can bet I loved every moment, seriously—wine tasting, cooking, eating alongside all kinds of chefs—hella yes. And besides all that, blueberries are a favorite around here, check out all the ways, they’ve been used here:
- Blueberry-Coconut Banana Bread
- Blueberry and Earl Grey Macarons
- Gluten-Free Blueberry Coconut Cake
- Blueberry Waffle Cookies
- Blueberry Oatmeal Bake
- Blueberry Muffin Cookies
- Easy Blueberry Muffins
- Blueberry Scones
As for my favorite way to have blueberries—gotta go with fresh first, then powdered. The latter being a pulverized version of freeze-dried blueberries. While the powder is second to fresh for straight up eating, I love baking with it more than fresh blueberries. The powdered from is highly concentrated in flavor and great for dyeing anything you need purple or magenta—the perfect thing to give these marshmallows a punch in flavor and vibrant shot of color.
Now that you’re in the know about blueberries and all its awesome forms, pick a blueberry recipe and—do it!
Blueberry and Jasmine Tea Marshmallows
Yield: Makes 8-10 servings
Ingredients
½ cup water2 teaspoons loose leaf jasmine tea3 tablespoons gelatin (3 packets)2 cups sugar½cup plus 3 tablespoons water, divided use2.5 oz. blueberry powder¼ cup honey2/3 cups powdered sugar3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoons loose leaf jasmine tea
- 3 tablespoons gelatin (3 packets)
- 2 cups sugar
- ½cup plus 3 tablespoons water, divided use
- 2.5 oz. blueberry powder
- ¼ cup honey
- 2/3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
Preparation: Lightly cover a 9x9 pan with nonstick spray. Place parchment on top and then cover once more with nonstick spray. (The first layer of nonstick spray will help to keep the parchment paper in place.)
- To steep the tea: Place tea-leaf filled infuser in a glass. In a small pan, heat 1/2 cup water to a rolling boil. Pour water over infuser and steep for three minutes. Remove infuser and set tea aside to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, pour tea into a standmixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Sprinkle gelatin on top. Set aside.
- In the meantime, place the sugar, 1/2 cup of water, and honey in a saucepan with over medium heat; cook and stir until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook without stirring until candy thermometer read 240 degrees F, about 12-15 minutes.
- Pour syrup mixture into standmixer bowl (over the gelatin mixture); beat on low until combined. Increase speed to high and beat until thick and fluffy and mixture triples in volume, about 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl stir together 1.5 oz blueberry powder and remaining 3 tablespoons of water until fully combined. Fold blueberry mixture into marshmallow mixture and fold until fully combined and no streaks remain.
- Using an lightly oiled spatula, scrape mixture into prepared pan. Use a lightly oiled offset spatula to smooth out top (top surface will not be completely even).Set aside in a cool place to set for at least 3 hours, preferably for 8 hours for a more firm marshmallow for easy cutting.
- Whisk together powdered sugar, cornstarch and remaining 1 oz. blueberry powder until well combined.Remove marshmallow from pan and peel away parchment paper. Lightly dust top and bottom of marshmallow with powdered sugar mixture. Lightly cover a serrated knife with non-stick spray and slice marshmallows into 1” cubes. Cover cut sides with powdered sugar mixture. Marshmallows will keep in an air tight container between layers of nonstick parchment for 3 to 4 days.
Notes
- Blueberry powder can be sourced at your local health food store or on Amazon.
- If jasmine tea is not your thing, you can skip the tea by replacing that portion with just a plain 1/2 cup of water.
- I used loose leaf tea for this recipe, so if you used pre-packed tea bags the ratio may need to be adjusted.
- If you don't have honey on hand, you can swap it out with maple or agave syrup without altering the taste too much.
