Make your own Marshmallows

Marshmallow recipes aren't something you often see people talking about, so I had assumed they were incredibly difficult to make and would perhaps require magical ingredients and equipment.

However, Sainsbury's now sell their own DIY kits so I thought I'd give it a go.

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without bowls of sweeties and treats dotted about the house, and what better than light and fluffy marshmallows in snow white to pop into your mouth as the mood takes you.

Turns out, they are incredibly simple and quite quick to make - you need to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before cutting, but the actual making part only takes about 20 minutes.

They'd make a lovely personal handmade gift too presented in a cellophane bag or pretty box, and just right for a last minute present.

As I said, the process is so simple, just boiling the sugar, dissolving the gelatine and whisking together.  The kit contains everything you need, you just need your own square tin and some cling film.

Frankly, the hardest part was turning it out from the cling film lined tin and cutting it up, but that's because I was a little frightened of it.  As it happens, marshmallow is quite robust stuff and can take a bit of tough love, you've just got to go for it.

The kitchen did look a bit like a snowstorm afterwards with all the icing sugar flying around, but then I'm not the tidiest of cooks.  It did however result in possibly the best bowl licking session of my life - warm, melty mallow straight from the spoon - ahhhhhh.

And the final result?  Delightful pillowy soft marshmallows - little squares of heaven.  Now I've made my first batch I fancy getting more adventurous with flavours, colours and shapes.  Cut with cookie cutters into different shapes they'd be even prettier and swirling through some lemon curd or Christmas candy canes to add colour and flavour is my next plan.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and make a fire so I can try toasting these babies.

Disclosure: The marshmallow kit is available in store from Sainsbury's priced at £2.50.  Not suitable for vegetarians. I was sent a kit for the purposes of this review.