You Melt My Heart Marshmallow Valentine

2.  Put ½ C. water in standalone mixer bowl and add the gelatin to soften it.

3.  In a saucepan heat the sugar, corn syrup, salt and ½ c water stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved.  I set my stove to Med-High (the recipe says low but I am impatient).  Heat to boiling and cook until it reached 240°F on a candy thermometer.  It took about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat

4.  The recipe says if you don’t have a thermometer, to test if it is ready, drop a small amount of the mixture into a cup of very cold water and” forms a ball that holds its shape but is pliable.”  I put one ice cube in my water and dropped some mixture in.  It sunk to the bottom and did not form a ball on its own.  I scooped up the mixture and formed a ball with my hands and put it back into the water and it did not dissolve.

5.  Slowly and carefully (because it’s hot and sticky) pour mixture into softened gelatin while beating on low.  Increase speed to high and beat 8-10 minutes.  I turned on a timer, and when I returned it had magically turned white, fluffy, and like marshmallow cream.

6.  Dump ½ of the marshmallow cream into Pan 1 (pink and white). Wet fingers with water, and slide them across the cream to spread and smooth it out. 

7.  Add the peppermint extract to the remaining mixture in the bowl, stir it in, and dump ¾ of the marshmallow cream into Pan 2 (peppermint swirl).  Wet fingers again and smooth out marshmallow cream.  

8.  To make the swirls drop food coloring on the top and pull a knife through them repeatedly until you are satisfied with your swirling. (I was a bit disappointed with my swirls, but they turned out fine once the hearts where cut out.)   

9.  Add 5 drops of pink food coloring to the remaining marshmallow cream in your bowl, stir it in, and dump it on top of Pan 1 (pink and white). Wet fingers again and smooth out marshmallow cream.  

10.  Let the marshmallows stand uncovered at least 8 hours or overnight.  (Mine rested 2 nights because life got in the way of marshmallow making).

1.  To make the pink and white sprinkle hearts I put some sprinkles in a bowl to have ready once the marshmallows are cut.  Then, dipped the heart cookie cutter into powdered sugar to avoid sticking, and cut out hearts from ½ the pan. Put each marshmallow into the sprinkle bowl and roll around making sure all the sticky edges get coated with sprinkles.

2.  To make the pink and white chocolate hearts I put some powdered sugar onto a plate then cut hearts from the rest of the pan remembering to dip by cookie cutter in powdered sugar when it got sticky.  Put each marshmallow into the powdered sugar and roll around making sure all the sticky edges are coated again. 

3.  I melted ¼ of a cup of melting chocolate in a pyrex dish in the microwave for 1 ½ minutes.  Just watch it while it’s in the microwave because you don’t want to burn it.  Once it’s smooth and melted it’s ready.  I took a spoon and drizzled the chocolate on top of my pink and white powdered sugar hearts.  I think they are so fancy

1.  To make the peppermint swirl hearts dip the cookie cutter in powdered sugar and cut out the hearts.  Put each marshmallow into the powdered sugar and roll around making sure all the sticky edges are coated (for the last time). 

1. Put marshmallows in gift bag. I stuffed my bag with tissue paper to make it look full without using all my marshmallows on one valentine. 
2. Add hot chocolate packet.
3. Make a tag.  I found heart confetti that matched my bags, so I simply punched a hole in it and tied it onto the bag with a tulle bow. Tulle is so forgiving, just pretend you are tying your shoe and it will look great!    
4. Write a message:
1. You Melt My Heart
2. You’re Pretty Hot Stuff
3. Your So Hot Your Cool