Amma always made pink and white marshmallows for Christmas; adding passionfruit makes them even more delicious. The dragonfruit powder adds only a hint of flavor, but is a great way to get natural pink coloring to your marshmallows.
edible silver flake, optional
1. Add passionfruit puree and gelatin to the bowl of stand mixer (whisk attachment). Stir briefly to combine.
(NOTE: If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can make marshmallows in a large bowl with a hand mixer — you just have to be willing to hold and beat it for 12 minutes. Prep the pan and spatula for the marshmallows ahead of time.)
2. In a small saucepan (a bigger one will be heavy and hard to hold steadily at a later stage) combine water, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Cover and cook over medium high heat for 4 minutes. Uncover and cook until the mixture reaches soft ball stage (240 degrees if you have a candy thermometer), approximately 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from heat; if it continues, it will swiftly turn into hard candy.
3. Turn mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture. (Be very careful with the sugar syrup, as it is scaldingly hot and will burn you badly if it gets on your skin.) Once you’ve added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high.
4. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 minutes.
5. While it’s whipping, butter a large 9 x 12 pan and dust with powdered sugar. Prepare an oiled spatula.
6. Pour half the mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with an oiled spatula.
7. Quickly add dragonfruit powder to the mixer bowl and mix for a minute to combine; pour pink mixture into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly (and swiftly) with an oiled spatula.
8. Dust the top with enough of the remaining powdered sugar to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
9. Turn onto a board, cut into squares and dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining powdered sugar, using additional if necessary.
10. Decorate with edible silver flake, if desired (moisten top of powdered marshmallow with a bit of water so flake will stick). It won’t add any flavor, but is nicely festive. May be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks, or frozen.
