Prepping the coconut + toasting coconut

• Place about ¼ of coconut (about 75 g) in a small blender and pulse to make it into a finer mix. Set this coconut mix aside, as we will add it to the marshmallow mixture.
  300 g sweetened shredded coconut
• Toasted coconut - Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the remaining coconut evenly. Place the baking tray in the preheated oven.
  300 g sweetened shredded coconut
• Mix the coconut in the tray with a spatula every 2 - 5 minutes to make sure that it toasts evenly without burning. This can take anywhere between 10 - 30 minutes, depending on the size of your baking tray and the material it's made out of.
• Once the coconut is toasted (or partially toasted) to your liking, remove it from the oven and let it cool down completely.

Prepping the pan

• Line a 9 x 9 inch pan with parchment paper (use butter to keep it in place). Sprinkle some of the toasted coconut evenly on the bottom of the pan. Make sure to leave enough for the top and sides of the marshmallows. Set aside until needed.

Marshmallow mix

Blooming the gelatin

• Place the water in the mixer bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and stir to saturate the gelatin in the water. Set it aside for at least 10 minutes while you get the syrup and the pan ready.
  120 mL water , 18 g gelatin powder

Making the sugar syrup

• Place the sugar and water in a pot. Add the corn syrup or honey (or other invert sugar substitute). Stir very gently until the sugar is moistened and mixed with the water.
  400 g white sugar, 120 mL water, 100 g corn syrup or honey
• Heat over medium / medium high heat until the sugar syrup starts to simmer. Gently swirl the pan to evenly distribute the heat, and to help dissolve the sugar.
• When the syrup comes to a boil, cover the saucepan with a lid and lower the heat to medium / medium low to simmer the syrup. Let the syrup simmer for about 2 minutes, without lifting the lid off the saucepan.
• After 2 minutes, remove the lid and check to make sure there are no sugar crystals on the sides of the saucepan. If there are crystals on the sides, then cover the saucepan for a further minute to allow the condensation to wash down the sugar crystals into the syrup.
• Clip the sugar thermometer to the side of the saucepan to monitor the temperature, or if you have an instant read thermometer, check the sugar syrup temperature every few minutes.
• Continue to cook the sugar syrup on medium / medium high heat until it reaches the correct temperature. Gently and frequently swirl the pan to ensure the syrup is cooking evenly.

Heating the syrup to the correct temperature

• The sugar syrup must be heated to between 240 - 245°F.
• For most climates, around 242 - 243°F works great. If you live in a cold, dry climate, heat the syrup to 240°F. If you live in a hot, humid climate, heat the sugar syrup to 245°F. Check recipe notes for more information.
• If you don't have a sugar thermometer, please check the sugar stage every 5 minutes with the cold water test until it reaches the firm-ball stage. (Please read the notes in my basic marshmallows post to learn how to do this.)
• When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature, remove it from the heat and let the bubbles subside for a few seconds.

Making the marshmallow mix

• Place the bowl with the bloomed gelatin in the mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk the gelatin on medium speed for a few seconds to break it up. Add the salt to the gelatin as well.
  ¼ tsp kosher salt / sea salt
• While the mixer is running on medium / medium low speed, carefully stream in the sugar syrup. Do not dump it all at once.
• Do not pour the syrup directly on the whisk to avoid splash back, and instead pour it along the wall of the bowl. Pour in all of the sugar syrup and the heat should dissolve all of the gelatin.
• Increase the speed to high (9 or 10), and whisk the mixture for at least 5 - 6 minutes. The marshmallow base should increase about 3 times in size and become white, fluffy, and smooth. It should look like a very fine, glossy, thick meringue.
• Once the mixture has tripled in volume (minimum of 5 minutes of whisking), lower the whisking speed to medium and add the vanilla extract AND the finely ground sweetened coconut that we set aside earlier. After adding the vanilla and coconut, increase the speed again and whisk for a further 1 - 2 minutes until the vanilla is mixed through.
  2 tsp vanilla extract
• The total whisking time can be between 5 - 8 minutes.
• Since it’s easier to spread the marshmallow mixture while it’s warm, stop whisking the marshmallow mix while the bowl is still warm to the touch.
• Using a clean spatula, fold the mixture while still warm to make sure the vanilla and coconut have evenly mixed through the marshmallow mix.

Spread and set the marshmallow

• Scrape some of the marshmallow mixture into the 9 x 9 inch pan to cover the toasted coconut at the bottom. Then add the remaining marshmallow mixture into the pan and spread it evenly inside the pan using an offset spatula.
• The marshmallow mixture will thicken and get sticky as it cools down. Cover the spatula with a thin layer of butter / shortening to make it easier to spread the sticky marshmallow if needed.
• Sprinkle most of the remaining toasted coconut on top of the marshmallow mixture, making sure to completely cover the surface. Press down very gently to help the coconut stick to the surface, (but don't "drown" the coconut in the marshmallow mix).
• Place a parchment paper square on top to cover the surface if needed to make sure the marshmallow isn't exposed to air.
• Set the coconut marshmallow aside to let it set / cure for at least 6 hours at room temperature. Do not put the marshmallow mix in the fridge. When the marshmallow mixture has cooled to room temperature, you can loosely cover it with plastic wrap as well.

Cut the marshmallows

• Turn the set marshmallow block out onto a work and cutting surface. To keep the sides sticky, do not use cornstarch. Gently remove the parchment paper. The marshmallow block might be stickier because the surface isn't dusted with cornstarch. Alternatively, you can place some toasted coconut on the surface instead.
• Cut the block into evenly shaped squares. You can cut the block in a 7 x 7 configuration or 8 x 8 configuration for smaller marshmallows.
• To get clean, neat cuts, lightly grease the blade of your straight blade knife or scissors. Scrape off any marshmallow residue that sticks to the blade frequently and re-apply the grease to keep it from sticking to the marshmallow.
• Toss the cut marshmallows in more toasted coconut (or cornstarch) and store in an airtight container.