There is, for me, no greater seasonal pleasure than making homemade marshmallows—a batch for myself to enjoy with hot cocoa and a good book, and a couple more to pack for my friends as edible gifts. As I've said before, sometimes the best gifts are the ones you'd never buy for yourself; same thing goes for the foods you'd never take time to make for yourself. Because around the holidays, I find that we can sometimes forget to take care of ourselves and spend most of our energy caring (and shopping!) for others. I suppose that is the magic of Christmas, the spirit of giving and all that. But these marshmallows are a gentle, pillowy reminder during this hectic seasonal rush to slow down and take time for yourself: both in the kitchen, making them, and on the couch in front of the television, eating them. <br /> <br />This year I wanted to do something special: I'm an avid fan of black forest cake, that dark chocolate and cherry dessert resonant of kirschwasser (German for "cherry water"), which is a fiery brandy made from cherry juice. When figuring out how to add that flavor to my mallows without having to buy a whole bottle of kirsch or somehow extract the essence from out-of-season cherries, I found that a little almond extract lent a similar cherry-like note.

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