Recipe: Coconut Marshmallows

Dear Puffin,
I found this recipe in a book entitled "Old-Fashioned Candymaking." It is a
three-step recipe, with separate instructions for making the marshmallows and for toasting the coconut.

Step 1
Marshmallows

Ingredients:
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup cold water
1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Soften gelatin in the 1/3 cup cold water in a small saucepan or in the top of a
double boiler. Place pan over boiling water and stir until gelatin is
dissolved. Add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour corn syrup into a large bowl. Add the vanilla and the gelatin-and-sugar mixture. Beat with an electric mixer about 15 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick and of a
marshmallow-like consistency.

Step 2
Toasting the coconut

Butter sides and bottom of a pan. [The recipe does not specify which size or shape of pan to use.] Chop 2 cups shredded coconut very fine and place in a shallow baking pan [not the same pan that is buttered]. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees, stirring occasionally until coconut is toasted to a delicate brown. [The recipe does not say how long it will take for the coconut to become brown.] Sprinkle the buttered pan with part of the toasted coconut.

Step 3
Pour the marshmallow mixture into the buttered pan sprinkled with coconut. Smooth the top of the marshmallow mixture with a knife. Sprinkle the top of the marshmallow mixture with more of the toasted coconut. When the marshmallow
mixture is set, remove it from the pan and cut it into individual square
marshmallows. (Use a sharp knife moistened with cold water.) Roll the marshmallows in the remaining toasted coconut so that all the sides are covered.

This recipe yields about one pound of marshmallows.