Homemade Marshmallows: Recipes & Tips (Part 2)

[Becca Porter]

[Moderator note: This is part of an extended topic that became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it into shorter segments; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Homemade Marshmallows: Recipes & Tips (Part 1)]

 

 

 

 

I just made the most beautiful marshmallows. I made peppermint marshmallows with peppermint oil. I swirled in red food coloring. After about 18 hours I cut the marshmallows into squares. Then I microwaved a bar of Lindt 70%. I stopped before it melted and stirred until smooth. I dipped the top into the chocolate. I sprinkled a little crushed peppermints on top.

For the first time ever my chocolate stayed in temper. They are gorgeous, I wish I had a picture to post. They are also incredibly delicious. I made MS marshmallow recipe. It is smaller than the recipe here. So that 1/8 teaspoon oil was pretty strong. I stopped when it tasted great. Yum!

Edited August 3, 2014 by Mjx
Host note added. (log)

[Kayakado]

I made an assortment of marshmallows for thanksgiving.

Mulberry - I found mulberry syrup on sale at the Middle East grocery.

Rose - I bought rose water and rose syrup at the same grocery but have only used the rose water so far.

Lavender - I bought a bottle of lavender at Penzeys and it is strong stuff.

Chocolate - these didn't turn out very well but I think I made a mistake somewhere in the process. I ended up with chocolate fluff but it is wonderful in hot cocoa.

[Abra]

Marshmallow virgin here, needing help. I made my first marshmallows last night, using nightscotsman's recipe, with cranberry puree. The puree was just frozen cranberries, whizzed in the processor and put through the chinois. I boiled the syrup to 235, and the test ball seemed actually beyond soft ball, quite firm, although I'm not used to soft-balling pure sugar syrup so I'm not sure how it should be.

Here are my marshmallows, 12 hours later.

As you can see, they're still sticky. The starch, which is tapioca and went through a sieve like water, clumps a little on the sticky surface. In the upper left corner I left a side un-starched, so you can see the texture better. I was having to oil my knife again about every other cut. Did the syrup need to be hotter? Is it the acidity of the cranberries that affected the setting properties of the fluff? The weather is dry, and the house was between 55-67 the whole time.

The flavor isn't exciting, and I don't particularly recommend this version, seasonal though it may be. Even the incredibly powerful flavor of cranberry doesn't quite come through, leaving sort of a sweet-tart impression of sticky pinkness. I'm thinking I need to use an extract or spice for flavor, and paste color, although I'd hoped to use the natural color of the fruit. But for me, flavor trumps color every time. Now if I can only get the consistency better. If the doctor is in, the patient is ready to be cured!

[miladyinsanity]

Um, I've only made this once, and it was a not very successful once, but I've a feeling you didn't whip it long enough, because yours looks the way mine did.

[Abra]

I whipped for 11 minutes, since nightscotsman suggested 10-12 minutes, but Chefpeon has advised me since I posted that I should have taken the syrup all the way to 238, and whipped more. She pointed out that a sugar syrup cannot be overwhipped, which I hadn't realized, so my next batch will be along those lines, plus a flavor-boosting effort.

My dog, who will eat anything, spit out one of these! Too funny.

[Pallee]

I usually take the sugar syrup to 140' and whip until it's down to room temp. I also coat them in powdered sugar after panning them. That helps absorb any excess moisture. I make tons of jam and use it to flavor marshmallows, as well as ice cream. Works fine. I don't use pectin, however.

Duh, I meant 240' F, Thanks!

Edited December 8, 2006 by Pallee (log)

[alanamoana]

Pallee, do you mean 240F? That would be soft ball which is what the sugar syrup should be when you add it to the rest of the marshmallow ingredients.

Abra, your marshmallows don't look too far off the mark. I think they will always be a bit sticky on the cut sides until you dust them with your starch mixture. Usually, I do a 50/50 blend of powdered sugar and corn starch.

[JLam]

Just thought I'd chime in to say that I made nightscotsman's vanilla marshmallows and they were great!

They're even better dipped in chocolate! Yum.

[highchef]

I cannot see dipping marshmallow into hot caramel, so I plan on rolling the caramel out, cutting it to fit. letting it sit and dipping into chocolate...rather good stuff. I am waiting for the weather to calm down, cause my chocolate is not setting up nicely yet. I've tried every tempered trick in the book, but everything I've made lately has dried to a motlely state. It's been cool and dry for a change, but the choc's dried crazy, splotchy. I was good about the temp's etc. and am using quality chocolates.

then..I was making cinnamon marshmallows..good stuff. And dipped them in some seriously good white chocolate. It turned out to be 'a good thing'.

Future dil want to make a bunch of them, and I don't want to foot the bill for the good choc. so, we're making the mallows and dipping them in the stuff that you buy at sam's. It'll probably make a prettier product in the end, but I'm not sure about the flavor. I've got to get the camera going on this one. I shall let you know about the end result.

edit to remove some crappy phrasing.

Edited December 9, 2006 by highchef (log)

[Abra]

Highchef, will you tell how you did the cinnamon mallows - using an eseence or flavoring, or ground cinnamon?

[highchef]

Highchef, will you tell how you did the cinnamon mallows - using an eseence or flavoring, or ground cinnamon?

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2 tablespoons penzy's ground made for an excellent flavor, per recipe. kept the vanilla in as well. be sure to add during initial mix with the gelatin and mix well or it'll swirl on you. I don't think the swirl is necessarily a bad thing, but gives inconsistant bites of cinnamon...some hotter than others. i rather like the element of surprise, especially paired with the white chocolate. It's really, really good. I hope its good with the white giradalli dipping stuff, although I'll probably notice the quality diff. and flavor, I'm sure the 12 yr olds I'm making them for won't be able to tell. I found a picture in a food catalog of marshmallow snowmen (3 reg. store bought cylander shaped marshmallows) on a stick, coated in white 'chocolate' so I tried making them my self for my son's class. I used a small cookie cutter and ended up with better shaped (and I'm sure better tasting) marshmallows, stuck 3 on a skewer and poured white choc over the bunch. Look cute, just have to pipe some twig arms etc. to finish off. I seriously need a spell check, and I apologize, but....

[CanadianBakin']

re: cinnamon marshmallows...

I just wanted to add that some brands of cinnamon are grainier than others so I always put it through a tea sieve before adding it to the marshmallows. I'm not usually a big fan of cinnamon and chocolate but they are amazing melting in a mug of hot chocolate.

[Abra]

I tried it today with cinnamon extract, and the flavor appeared to be excellent. I didn't get to taste it as marshmallow, per se, but the mess I made was tasty.

My bulb thermometer accidently got water inside it yesterday and gave up the ghost, unbeknownst to me, and my syrup got overcooked by the time I realized it. Probably WAY overcooked. As soon as I started pouring it into the mixer, I could see that the viscosity was wrong. But the mixer was on top speed, the hot syrup pour had a momentum of its own, and by the time I could stop pouring and get it turned off, a solid lump of rock-hard molten sugar had formed in the bowl, and there were glass-like spatters everywhere. The wall, the counter top, all over the mixer, on all the fruit in the fruit bowl, molten glass. Did I mention that I had used a little red color with my extract? So just imagine Pepto-Bismol colored glass splatters, and you'll have the picture. I leave the sound track to your imagination.

Temperature counts. It was a humbling experience. I've always wanted to try spun sugar, and did in fact get to practice that during the cleanup. I made some cute little spun glass nests that were in no way related to marshmallows. But the flavor was very interesting.

[designerobsessed]

Desiderio, would you mind sharing your recipe for the marshmallows? They look wonderful.

[Desiderio]

Desiderio, would you mind sharing your recipe for the marshmallows?  They look wonderful.

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Thank you , they are nightscotsman' recipe , is in this thread , let me see if I can find the page.

Here they are , I found the recipe easy to follow and greta results.

http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r240.html

Edited December 9, 2006 by Desiderio (log)

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Well, I stumbled on this thread today thanks to Marmish pointing me this way from another thread, and my first batch of Nightscotsman's vanilla variation is happily resting in the pan. The only catch is, I was out of corn syrup... except for the full and otherwise untouched bottle that had been colored dark red at Halloween! It was the unused fake blood. My daughter thinks this is priceless, even though the stuff is a cheery pink, rather than blood colored, thankfully! I thought about flavoring them with cinnamon, but since my daughter and my husband both really like vanilla, I thought I'd try that first, despite the rather feminine coloring...

Will let you know how they turn out!

[designerobsessed]

Thank you so much for the recipe. I've always wanted to try making them - let's see how I do!!

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

<img src="http://www.homewitch.net/pix/marsh1d.jpg">

So, here are my little pink poofs. Everyone's loved them so far; my Saturday night crew will be here in a while, and I'm sure they'll be just as thrilled!

It took a LONG time to get the syrup up to temperature, but I persevered. I will also use a smaller pan, or try not to spread the mixture out as much next time, so they're fatter. There are a few more pictures & stuff on my food blog, <a href="http://www.homewitch.net">Homewitch.Net.</a>

Thanks again for the recipes, advice, and tips! I'll definitely be experimenting with more flavors and stuff!

[alanamoana]

It took a LONG time to get the syrup up to temperature, but I persevered.

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nice marshmallows sss! it could be that you just put too much water in with the sugar when cooking the syurp. the temperature is an indication of how much water is left in the solution...less water=higher temperature. i usually don't measure the water when i know i'm making a syrup (soft ball, etc). rather, i put a little bit of water in the pot (always water first!) then put the sugar in, making sure not to splash any crystals on the side of the pot and just make sure that all the sugar has been moistened. i look for a "wet sand" consistency. then, i put the pot on high (so that the flames, if you have a gas stove, come up the side to melt down any stray crystals) and DON'T TOUCH IT until it reaches the proper temp. it takes less time with less water (less to evaporate).

good luck with future batches! looks like you're off to a running start

[Desiderio]

I was wondering if its possible use some kinda of liquor ( under 30 ) in marshmallow batter.Would that prevent the batter from setting?

I think I am going to experiment little bit. other than I just had some caramel covered marshmallow form the rocky mountain chocolate factory , and they were very yummy ,I need to get my hand to caramel that can be used as sheets to wrap the marshmallows.

[CanadianBakin']

I haven't tried it yet but I bet the sheets they sell in the produce section for making caramel apples would work. Unless of course you want to try your hand at making it.

I was wondering if its possible use some kinda of liquor ( under 30 ) in marshmallow batter.Would that prevent the batter from setting?

I think I am going to experiment little bit. other than I just had some caramel covered marshmallow form the rocky mountain chocolate factory , and they were very yummy ,I need to get my hand to caramel that can be used as sheets to wrap the marshmallows.

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[annecros]

I was wondering if its possible use some kinda of liquor ( under 30 ) in marshmallow batter.Would that prevent the batter from setting?

I think I am going to experiment little bit. other than I just had some caramel covered marshmallow form the rocky mountain chocolate factory , and they were very yummy ,I need to get my hand to caramel that can be used as sheets to wrap the marshmallows.

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Let me know how it goes. I have some homemade limoncello and some homemade coffee liqueur that could turn out very interesting, I think. Someone upthread did Champagne, and it came out well.

[plk]

I'd love to make these for a gift for some vegan friends, but sadly, Emes Kosher Gelatin is no longer considered to be vegan. Well, Emes says it is, but they're the only ones. Apparently, chemical analysis reveals that there's too much protien for it to be only what it is advertised to be and it reacts too similarly to animal-based gelatin. Which, I suppose, explains why it works so well. So now, I am at a loss as to what to try, given the lack of success in this thread with agar. But what about pectin? It doesn't look like anyone has tried that yet. Is it worth trying, or is it too dissimilar from gelatin?

[alanamoana]

I'd love to make these for a gift for some vegan friends, but sadly, Emes Kosher Gelatin is no longer considered to be vegan.  Well, Emes says it is, but they're the only ones.  Apparently, chemical analysis reveals that there's too much protien for it to be only what it is advertised to be and it reacts too similarly to animal-based gelatin.  Which, I suppose, explains why it works so well.  So now, I am at a loss as to what to try, given the lack of success in this thread with agar.  But what about pectin?  It doesn't look like anyone has tried that yet.  Is it worth trying, or is it too dissimilar from gelatin?

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from what i understand, pectin needs heat and an acid to cause it to set.

you might be better off making pate de fruit (fruit pastes or fruit jellies) for your friends rather than messing around with marshmallows. they are fun, but i don't know how well pectin would work.

[alice shopland]

I'd love to make these for a gift for some vegan friends, but sadly, Emes Kosher Gelatin is no longer considered to be vegan.  Well, Emes says it is, but they're the only ones.  Apparently, chemical analysis reveals that there's too much protien for it to be only what it is advertised to be and it reacts too similarly to animal-based gelatin.  Which, I suppose, explains why it works so well.  So now, I am at a loss as to what to try, given the lack of success in this thread with agar.  But what about pectin?  It doesn't look like anyone has tried that yet.  Is it worth trying, or is it too dissimilar from gelatin?

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i was making what i thought were vegan marshies using emes... and then i spent months trying to come up with an alternative. with the aid of a food technologist, i did. sorry, i can't give away my hard-won recipe, but i can tell you that fluffiness is the difficult part to replicate. i didn't try pectin, but i'm sure it won't create fluff.

cheers

alice