Sometimes, you stumble across your recipe soul mate. That’s what happened when I saw this coconut curry hot chocolate.

The recipe combines two things I love, chocolate and curry. And it also offers a lesson in patience and damage control, as I attempted to make the marshmallows from scratch.

Joy the Baker (who originally blogged about the recipe) said that it would be easier than you’d think to make the marshmallows. She also mentioned something about powdered sugar getting all over the kitchen, but I took that worth a grain of salt. I like to clean up as a I cook, and I’m not a very messy baker.

Well, Joy did not lie about the powdered sugar. Halfway into making the marshmallows it looked like the beginning of #snowmg in my kitchen. But she was wrong about it being easy. I thought the recipe was challenging, not so much from a labor perspective but from a timing perspective. You have to keep an eye on the sugar as it cooks down, and make sure it gets to 240 degrees. You also have to pour it very carefully into the mixer with the gelatin and make sure that it doesn’t splatter.

But in the end, everything worked out for the best. I let the marshmallows sit overnight, and when I woke up in the morning, they were the perfect consistency: fluffy and light like a cloud. The hot chocolate comes together quickly, so it makes up for all the steps you had to do to make the marshmallows.

Coconut Curry Hot Chocolate (slightly adapted from Joy the Baker)

Ingredients

For the Marshmallows
1 cup cold water, divided
2 1/4-ounce packages unflavored gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon curry powder, plus 1/4 teaspoon for the pan and topping
1 cup powdered sugar, for coating the pan and topping the marshmallows

For the Hot Chocolate
2 cups coconut milk
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 ounces dark chocolate (65% or higher cocoa content), chopped
1/2 teaspoon curry powder

Directions

To make the marshmallows, spray an 8×8-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and coat with the powdered sugar and a sprinkling of curry. Set aside.

Pour 1/2 cup cold water into the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a whisk attachment. Pour the two gelatin packs over the cold water and let sit for about 10 minutes.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar, corn syrup, salt and the remaining 1/2 cup cold water to a boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and bring mixture up to 240 degrees F. There’s no need to stir the mixture, just let it get hot.

When the sugar is heated to 240 degrees F, turn the mixer with the gelatin and water on low speed. Carefully stream the hot sugar mixture into the bowl as the whisk moves. Be careful not to pour into the whisk and spatter the hot sugar all over the sides of the bowl. Gradually increase the speed of the mixer until you’ve added all of the hot sugar mixture. Beat on high for several minutes until a thick, fluffy, white marshmallow batter has formed, about 8 minutes. Pour in the vanilla extract and 1/2 teaspoon curry and beat for another 2 minutes.

Spread the marshmallow mixture into prepared pan and smooth with a clean, wet spatula to prevent sticking. Top marshmallow with powdered sugar and a sprinkling of curry powder, let set and rest for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

When set, remove marshmallow from the pan and place on a large cutting board coated with powdered sugar, Use a pizza cutter, coated with non-stick cooking spray to slice marshmallows. Coat the knife blade in a bit of powdered sugar if it begins to stick to the marshmallows during slicing.

To make the hot chocolate, place coconut milk in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Warm to steaming and add the sugar and chopped chocolate. Whisk until sugar is dissolved and chocolate is completely melted. Stir in curry powder. Serve warm with a marshmallow.