Homemade Marshmallows: Recipes & Tips (Part 2)

[alanamoana]

echoing what sugarseattle wrote, which recipe did you follow? as i mentioned, nightscotsman's recipe (which is the main one in the marshmallow thread that everyone follows) has no egg whites. the only time i think they could spoil, is if there isn't sufficient hot liquid to cook any fruit puree which has been used.

[pagosselin]

What is the shelf life of the homemade marshmallows?  I want to make some for a holiday show but not sure how far ahead I can make them. I will be dipping them in chocolate and sealing them in cello bags.  Should they be stored at room temp. or refrigerate for a longer shelf life?  Any suggestions?

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Wow thanks for all the good info. I haven't made any yet but when I do I will use Nightscotsman's recipe. I would start with plain vanilla marshmallows. I have just used kraft marshmallows for the pops so far and they last forever. (Coated and sealed in bags) I thought with all the great comments about making marshmallows that I wanted to try some. My problem is that I need to start making them soon and the show isn't until Dec. 1st. It's a 2 day show so I need to have lots of chocolates made and packaged.

[tammylc]

Blackberry bats (with blackberry powder in the dusting mix), vanilla ghosts, and pumpkin pie pumpkins.

The pumpkin ones are amazing. I'm going to make more and hand them out for Halloween (we live in an intentional community, and almost all the kids we get are neighbors, so I can get away with giving homemade stuff out).

[patris]

Blackberry bats (with blackberry powder in the dusting mix), vanilla ghosts, and pumpkin pie pumpkins.

The pumpkin ones are amazing. I'm going to make more and hand them out for Halloween (we live in an intentional community, and almost all the kids we get are neighbors, so I can get away with giving homemade stuff out).

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Tammy,

Those are gorgeous! The colors are wonderful - did you add any coloring to the pumpkin ones? Mine don't ever have that beautiful soft coloring - maybe I use too much ground spice, but they seem to turn out a bit browner and muddier.

[tammylc]

Thanks, Patris. I did add orange food coloring to the pumpkin ones to punch up the color a bit.

[bwv544]

oh! my roommates and i finally had the chance to make variations on nightscotman's recipe a few weeks ago, and again this morning. first batch: strawberry, rolled in cocoa powder and powdered sugar. excellent, big hit. second batch, peach and blueberry with southern comfort, rolled in powdered sugar, ground ginger and nutmeg. another big hit. the variations are endless and we're ridiculously excited. thanks to all for this fantastic thread!

[hummingbirdkiss]

Ok I had my doubts but Patris thanks for sharing the pumpkin marshmallows are insane!!!

I went nuts with spices and tossed in some allspice as well ..(I love that berry!) ... the smell of the kitchen was fantastic!!!

tossed them in fresh toasted walnuts tossed in a bit of sugar and the left over ground spices and rough ground ...

these are almost like eating a pastry...I still think a drizzle of really dark chocolate would NOT be overkill ..but would give it that one thing!!!

thank you so much!!!

[patris]

Ok I had my doubts but Patris thanks for sharing the pumpkin marshmallows are insane!!!

I went nuts with spices and tossed in some allspice as well ..(I love that berry!) ... the smell of the kitchen was fantastic!!!

tossed them in fresh toasted walnuts tossed in a bit of sugar and the left over ground spices and rough ground ...

these are almost like eating a pastry...I  still think a drizzle of really dark  chocolate would NOT be overkill ..but would give it that one thing!!!

thank you so much!!!

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You're welcome - I'm delighted that you like them (and I'm totally stealing your rolling in walnuts idea)! Dark chocolate really does make them extraordinary...

[annieC]

Just an FYI- Good Eats has a new episode airing next week, called Puff the Magic Mallow, which shows the 'science behind homemade marshmallow'.

According to Sony iEPG listings, it will be on the Food Network:

December 3: 8:00PM

December 4: 3:00AM

December 13: 8:00PM

December 14: 3:00AM

All times listed are EST

I figure for those of us like me, who are fairly new to marshmallow making, it should be interesting to see the actual sugar technique.

My corn syrup free marshmallows have been turning out just fine, as long as I invert some of the sugar first. My pumpkin spice marshmallows turned out great for Thanksgiving...next up, I want to make black currant marshmallows, using strained black currant preserves with the gelatin and some of black currant sugar syrup from the Polish part of the international food isle.

[KrazedMom]

Just an FYI- Good Eats has a new episode airing next week, called Puff the Magic Mallow, which shows the 'science behind homemade marshmallow'.

According to Sony iEPG listings, it will be on the Food Network:

December 3:  8:00PM

December 4: 3:00AM

December 13: 8:00PM

December 14: 3:00AM

All times listed are EST

I figure for those of us like me, who are fairly new to marshmallow making, it should be interesting to see the actual sugar technique.

My corn syrup free marshmallows have been turning out just fine, as long as I invert some of the sugar first. My pumpkin spice marshmallows turned out great for Thanksgiving...next up, I want to make black currant marshmallows, using strained black currant  preserves  with the gelatin and some of black currant sugar syrup from the Polish part of the international food isle.

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WOW...it doesn't get any better than this!! AB :wub: AND marshmallows

[Blamo]

I rarely look in this set of forums, but am I glad I did tonight! It never even occurred to me to alter the flavor of the common marshmallow. Well, I gave Nightscotsman's recipe a shot. I didnt have strawberries or orange water around my place so I started off with a finely ground cinnamon and cardamon mixture ( tossed into the sugar and brought it up to 240 degrees). As I was waiting on the sugar to come up to temp, I saw that I had a granny smith apple on my counter so I pulled out this lemon juicer (basically a giant garlic press) and cut the apple up then juiced every molecule of water out of it that I could. The marshmallow came out perfectly! I couldn't believe it. The taste of the apple was subtle and the spices highlighted the natural sugar taste but didn't overwhelm. Even my brother who eats only pizza and cheeseburgers thought they were tasty.

[Ophey]

I spotted a little news item about maple marshmallows and got the recipe from Cornell University Cooperative Extension. It involves inverted maple syrup. I asked and they just said they used invertase. Does anyone know how much invertase is added to sugar to invert it? I tried to do a forum search to see if anyone that had used invertase to invert sugar and gave a recipe in a post, but haven't managed to find one.

- Olivia

[Kerry Beal]

I spotted a little news item about maple marshmallows and got the recipe from Cornell University Cooperative Extension.  It involves inverted maple syrup.  I asked and they just said they used invertase.  Does anyone know how much invertase is added to sugar to invert it? I tried to do a forum search to see if anyone that had used invertase to invert sugar and gave a recipe in a post, but haven't managed to find one.

- Olivia

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Invertase is an enzyme so theoretically the amount you add doesn't matter, it just keeps doing it's job until all the sugar is inverted.

The invertase that I use to liquify sugar in cherry cordials suggests about 1 1/2 ml for each pound of fondant. That will cause the centers to liquify in about 2 weeks.

[susiew]

I've made Gourmet magazine Dec 1998 marshmallow recipe multiple times and have been very happy with the results. It's very hardy and you can mix things into the marshmallow.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/15797

[Emily_R]

Wow. I just made my first batch of coffee marshmallows (half batch, actually), and they are stupendous. Definitely my favorite so far. I subbed very strongly brewed coffee for all of the liquid (puree and liquid with the sugar), and the amount of coffee flavor is just perfect. I'll be dipping these in chocolate.... mmmmmmm.....

[jsmeeker]

Just an FYI- Good Eats has a new episode airing next week, called Puff the Magic Mallow, which shows the 'science behind homemade marshmallow'.

According to Sony iEPG listings, it will be on the Food Network:

December 3:  8:00PM

December 4: 3:00AM

December 13: 8:00PM

December 14: 3:00AM

All times listed are EST

I figure for those of us like me, who are fairly new to marshmallow making, it should be interesting to see the actual sugar technique.

I just finished watching this episode off of my TiVo.

Really, not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. Of course, I haven't read through this thread to learn about other techniques, but his looked pretty good.

And the suggestion to make Moon Pies? Oh yeah... I gotta try that! (and really, I want to try his melt the chocolate with a heating pad and keep in temper method)

[John DePaula]

Just an FYI- Good Eats has a new episode airing next week, called Puff the Magic Mallow, which shows the 'science behind homemade marshmallow'.

According to Sony iEPG listings, it will be on the Food Network:

December 3:  8:00PM

December 4: 3:00AM

December 13: 8:00PM

December 14: 3:00AM

All times listed are EST

I figure for those of us like me, who are fairly new to marshmallow making, it should be interesting to see the actual sugar technique.

I just finished watching this episode off of my TiVo.

Really, not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. Of course, I haven't read through this thread to learn about other techniques, but his looked pretty good.

And the suggestion to make Moon Pies? Oh yeah... I gotta try that! (and really, I want to try his melt the chocolate with a heating pad and keep in temper method)

←

Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper? I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though.

[jsmeeker]

Just an FYI- Good Eats has a new episode airing next week, called Puff the Magic Mallow, which shows the 'science behind homemade marshmallow'.

According to Sony iEPG listings, it will be on the Food Network:

December 3:  8:00PM

December 4: 3:00AM

December 13: 8:00PM

December 14: 3:00AM

All times listed are EST

I figure for those of us like me, who are fairly new to marshmallow making, it should be interesting to see the actual sugar technique.

I just finished watching this episode off of my TiVo.

Really, not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. Of course, I haven't read through this thread to learn about other techniques, but his looked pretty good.

And the suggestion to make Moon Pies? Oh yeah... I gotta try that! (and really, I want to try his melt the chocolate with a heating pad and keep in temper method)

←

Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper? I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though.

←

Honestly, no.. I didn't really pay close enough attention. Then again, I bet it would be tough for an amateur like me to tell just via a quick shot on a TV show.

[tammylc]

Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper?  I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though.

←

And it would help if you were actually aiming for the right temperature. He said to heat the chocolate to between 94 and 98 degrees F. I don't know of any chocolate that would be tempered at those temperature!

[John DePaula]

Just an FYI- Good Eats has a new episode airing next week, called Puff the Magic Mallow, which shows the 'science behind homemade marshmallow'.

According to Sony iEPG listings, it will be on the Food Network:

December 3:  8:00PM

December 4: 3:00AM

December 13: 8:00PM

December 14: 3:00AM

All times listed are EST

I figure for those of us like me, who are fairly new to marshmallow making, it should be interesting to see the actual sugar technique.

I just finished watching this episode off of my TiVo.

Really, not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. Of course, I haven't read through this thread to learn about other techniques, but his looked pretty good.

And the suggestion to make Moon Pies? Oh yeah... I gotta try that! (and really, I want to try his melt the chocolate with a heating pad and keep in temper method)

←

Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper? I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though.

←

Honestly, no.. I didn't really pay close enough attention. Then again, I bet it would be tough for an amateur like me to tell just via a quick shot on a TV show.

←

I didn't mean to be snarky... Actually, I enjoyed the episode and learned a great tip or two from the show.

[jsmeeker]

Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper?  I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though.

←

And it would help if you were actually aiming for the right temperature. He said to heat the chocolate to between 94 and 98 degrees F. I don't know of any chocolate that would be tempered at those temperature!

←

I think his method attempts to melt chocolate while keeping it IN temper, elininating the need to bring it up to a certain temperature, then back down, etc. I have no clue if that is really possible or not. at what temp does typical chocoalte lose it's temper? is it ANY temp that causes it to change to a liquid state?

Still, it's something interesting to think about.

[John DePaula]

Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper?  I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though.

←

And it would help if you were actually aiming for the right temperature. He said to heat the chocolate to between 94 and 98 degrees F. I don't know of any chocolate that would be tempered at those temperature!

←

I think his method attempts to melt chocolate while keeping it IN temper, elininating the need to bring it up to a certain temperature, then back down, etc. I have no clue if that is really possible or not. at what temp does typical chocoalte lose it's temper? is it ANY temp that causes it to change to a liquid state?

Still, it's something interesting to think about.

←

Yes, it's possible to keep it in temper. If I have a short job and a small amount of chocolate needs to be in temper, I just microwave it on very low at 2mn intervals, stirring in between times, until about 2/3 of the mass is melted. Then I continue to stir occasionally until the remaining is melted. (If you've guessed incorrectly about when to stop nuking, you can add a small amount of finely grated chocolate and stir). In this method, I'm using part of the initial unmelted mass to seed the melted portion. I never use a thermometer with this method, but the final temperature should be around 31-33C (88F - 91F).

[KrazedMom]

It seems like I get spots on the tops of the marshmallows. They are tiny little darker spots yet the sides don't get them. Anyone have ideas why? The one time I simply melted the chocolate and dipped, I didn't get the spots. I brush off each one before I do the dipping.

[FoodMan]

Just an FYI- Good Eats has a new episode airing next week, called Puff the Magic Mallow, which shows the 'science behind homemade marshmallow'.

According to Sony iEPG listings, it will be on the Food Network:

December 3:  8:00PM

December 4: 3:00AM

December 13: 8:00PM

December 14: 3:00AM

All times listed are EST

I figure for those of us like me, who are fairly new to marshmallow making, it should be interesting to see the actual sugar technique.

I just finished watching this episode off of my TiVo.

Really, not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be. Of course, I haven't read through this thread to learn about other techniques, but his looked pretty good.

And the suggestion to make Moon Pies? Oh yeah... I gotta try that! (and really, I want to try his melt the chocolate with a heating pad and keep in temper method)

←

Hmmm... did you notice that his chocolate was totally NOT in temper? I'm not saying that you can't do it with the heating pad, but you'd have to keep a pretty good eye on it, though.

←

The only marshmallow recipe that I've liked so far is the one from this thread. After seeing Alton though, I have to try his too! Those moon pies did look awsome as well.

How could you tell it was not in temper? He advised using this method before, not sure on what show, to 'temper' or more like to keep the already tempered chocolate tempered and it works great. I've used it before several times to create hard chocolate crusts on desserts or to cut shapes out for decoration.

I'm just and amateur home cook so I am not saying you are wrong. I'm just curious how you could tell it was not tempered just by looking at it.

[tammylc]

When he was biting into the moon pie, the chocolate was visibly bloomed.