Homemade Marshmallows: Recipes & Tips (Part 2)

[Tri2Cook]

I created these last night after work. I'm going to do a little tweaking (they're a bit more sticky and soft than I was going for) but I'm pretty happy with the result. Soy marshmallow:

In mixer bowl:

2 envelopes knox gelatin powder

1/2 c. soy sauce

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1/8 tsp. black pepper

cook...

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. + 2 tbsp. dark corn syrup

6 tbsp. water

...to 238 f. Add syrup to soy/gelatin with mixer on high, whip ~10 min.

I found it to be a nice balance of sweet and salt but I'm going to try a batch with isomalt just to see what it's like with the balance a little more to the salty side. Of course the spices can be altered and/or adjusted to taste. The piece in the picture hasn't been dusted with starch, that's straight from the pan.

[emmalish]

I made two batches of marshmallows before Christmas – both based on Greweling's recipe – one vanilla and one chocolate. I've made the vanilla before and am happy, but the chocolate is just amazing. It tastes just like a hot chocolate with marshmallows.

I had a bit of a problem with the method of adding the cocoa – which was just to add it towards the end of the whipping. Seriously, cocoa everywhere. If the amount of cocoa specified in the recipe had actually made it into the marshmallows, I'm sure the flavour would have been even more pronounced. I'd read upthread that a few people had added the cocoa to the sugar syrup on the stove. How do you find the fat content affects the whipping? Noticeable? I may try that next time.

Greweling also suggests coating the chocolate marshmallows in a starch mixture with 1/3 cocoa, but I'd read someone post somewhere that they coated theirs in just cocoa powder. I tried that, but within a day they were sticking together again. So I re-coated them with the powdered sugar/cornstarch mix. That's why they're looking a bit blotchy here...

[Desiderio]

I have an order for some caramel marshmallows, I started my production as usual, then I had to stop because was baby time ( he is a month old ) anyway, I knew I was supposed to keep going, so I thought well I can finish later. Got too tired was too late went to bed to wake up in the morning with a major caramel collapse ( sp?) Aiuto!!! Well I kept my cool this time ( kinda unusual for me :-P ) anyway I used the marshmallows for a nice dark chocolate bark, cut it into pieces and made a bark as usual, its kinda nice with pieces of marshmallows and caramel. Hubby loved it ( he usually isnt much of a sweets lover ).

[isomer]

I finally treated myself to a KA stand mixer, and of course, the first thing I made was the famous nightscotsman marshmallows. OMG they are delicious!

I want to try some with sweetened condensed milk in them - anyone have an idea what the shelf life will be? Or in fact will they be shelf stable? (I'm guessing yes, with all that sugar in the milk and the marshmallows)

thanks

[patris]

I finally treated myself to a KA stand mixer, and of course, the first thing I made was the famous nightscotsman marshmallows. OMG they are delicious!

I want to try some with sweetened condensed milk in them - anyone have an idea what the shelf life will be? Or in fact will they be shelf stable? (I'm guessing yes, with all that sugar in the milk and the marshmallows)

thanks

←

Congrats on the mixer purchase!

My wild guess is that the fat in the milk might interfere with aeration, so you might not end up with the right texture. Dunno about shelf life, though...

[isomer]

My wild guess is that the fat in the milk might interfere with aeration, so you might not end up with the right texture.  Dunno about shelf life, though...

←

Yeah, I kind of gleaned that from reading everyone's adventures with chocolate marshmallows. I'm going to try beating it in at around the 9 minute mark.

Oh, and yeah... the mixer totally, totally rocks. Kitchen life just got better.

[gfron1]

Savory - I mean, really savory, not a savory flavor added to the sugary stuff...it would probably need something from Tri2Cook's cupboards. I've googled the heck out of the concept and can't find a recipe. Anything that I find that calls itself savory has 2 cups of sugar and corn syrup in it. I know that's the structure, but can't we pull something out of the air that would allow this to work?!

[Tri2Cook]

I haven't managed a no-detectable-sweetness marshmallow. I worked at it for a bit with the soy marshmallow but hit the deadline for the challenge without succeeding and haven't really been back to it.

Using isomalt instead of sugar reduced the perceived sweetness but I wouldn't classify the result as truly savory. Texture is the major problem I've run into with trying to eliminate the sweet base. There are recipes for methylcellulose based marshmallows (that contain sugar but only because they were going for a traditional marshmallow flavor, not as a structural element) but they're not the same critter. Calling it marshmallow seems to be more of an artistic license thing.

I'm wondering what would happen if you were to add a bit of xanthan and some SGA methycellulose to a savory flavor base (the basic thick, stable "shaving cream" type foam) and also add some melted gelatin or agar while whipping so that the foam will set as it cools. In my head the texture still wouldn't be right but it would be easy enough to try.

[gfron1]

I've been waiting for you to wake up...but you've failed your challenge

So, I'm working on this month's TGRWT challenge of dark chocolate and smoked salmon. I wasn't excited about yet one more challenge that involved chocolate, but then I thought - ah ha! I could make a historic hot chocolate recipe (I'm thinking of a Parisian 1654 recipe) seasoned appropriately for a smoked salmon marshmallow. I know, at this point 95% of readers are rolling their eyes and preparing to gag, but I've learned to trust TGRWT connections, so I think it could work. Worst case, I'll go for a sweet marshmallow, but I'd rather not.

[Tri2Cook]

That's funny, I was actually comtemplating a smoked salmon marshmallow dipped in unsweetened chocolate or smoked dark chocolate for this month's challenge. I was just going to do an isomalt marshmallow with smoked salmon powder added. I also contemplated a smoked salmon ganache as the center. Contemplating is as far as either got. I'm thinking an isomalt marshmallow may not be overly sweet for what you're doing but if it's not what you want then it's not the right thing. I'll do a test run of the methycellulose/gelatin idea and let you know what happens but my hopes for it aren't real high.

[Kerry Beal]

I've been waiting for you to wake up...but you've failed your challenge 

So, I'm working on this month's TGRWT challenge of dark chocolate and smoked salmon.  I wasn't excited about yet one more challenge that involved chocolate, but then I thought - ah ha!  I could make a historic hot chocolate recipe (I'm thinking of a Parisian 1654 recipe) seasoned appropriately for a smoked salmon marshmallow.  I know, at this point 95% of readers are rolling their eyes and preparing to gag, but I've learned to trust TGRWT connections, so I think it could work.  Worst case, I'll go for a sweet marshmallow, but I'd rather not.

←

I know you "need" to play with the whole marshmallow thing - but I wonder if just dipping nice chunks of dry smoked salmon in dark chocolate wouldn't work. Less is more!

[Tri2Cook]

It does work. I dipped some pieces of candied smoked salmon in 85% chocolate last summer and it was actually quite tasty. Part of the fun of TGRWT is the surprise at seeing some of the really creative things people do. I agree that simple is sometimes best but the spirit of TGRWT encourages pushing boundaries.

[gfron1]

I know you "need" to play with the whole marshmallow thing - but I wonder if just dipping nice chunks of dry smoked salmon in dark chocolate wouldn't work.  Less is more!

←

You know me too well - I really do HAVE TO play with this because its part of my neuroses

However, my idea is evolving beyond marshmallow so I'm going to start a new topic so as to not limit myself and take things OT.

HERE is the new topic.

Edited February 22, 2009 by gfron1 (log)

[Tri2Cook]

Ok... but I'm still going to try my idea. Even if you don't need it. Your fault, I'm curious now. I have to know what will happen even if it's nothing good. Sometimes knowing what doesn't work is worth the time and ingredients used to find out.

[Doodad]

I have never made marshmallows but have a project that really needs them, ie curry rice kripie treats.

So, how should I do this? How can I get real coconut flavor in there? Coconut syrup instead of corn? Coconut milk instead of water?

[Tri2Cook]

I did coconut marshmallow during my marshmallow-a-thon a while back. I posted in the marshmallow thread, I think I did something like 17 or 18 flavors over a couple days. I used coconut milk, with some added spray dried coconut milk to boost it a bit, to hydrate the gelatin. I also infused the syrup with shredded coconut, sieved it out and heated it to temp then proceeded as usual. The marshmallows had a very nice coconut flavor but were a bit more dense and heavy than the usual marshmallow. Nothing off-putting, just not the usual super light fluff. The same thing happened with the chocolate marshmallows, I think it's fat-related. The difference won't matter for making rice krispie treats, it works fine. I know this because I made a soy sauce marshmallow and used it along with toasted sesame seeds for something similar to rice krispie treats and the soy-sauce-mallows had the heavier, more dense texture as well. It made no difference to the end result. You may want to try using just the coconut milk for your purposes, the coconut flavor in mine was pretty powerful and might take over your curry theme. If you have isomalt and use it instead of sugar it will cut the sweetness level back and give a more savory profile (though still leaning towards sweet... but it is a marshmallow after all).

Edited October 25, 2009 by Tri2Cook (log)

[pringle007]

I use coconut extract in mine then sprinkle the top with toasted unsweetened coconut. I have found using coconut milk makes them too dense. Mallows are fluffy, and when I made both coconut and coconut curry mallows using cocnut milk, I found them too dense and firm. I switched to extract, and they were perfect. In fact, my coconut mallows are one of my biggest sellers. I have made the base mallow and sprinkled the top with cruched grahams for a coconut cream pie mallow which has also seen nice sucess with my customers.

[Doodad]

I almost bought the coconut extract today. Having never made marshmallows I am just unsure.

I just made the batch of curry krispie treats and they are great. Used commercial mallows in a test batch, but this shows promise. Doing a play on sizzling rice soup for dinner with a pho/ramen soup and the kripies.

[Tri2Cook]

Your choice, either way will work. I'm not a fan of coconut extract but it's widely used and enjoyed. The marshmallows will be more dense done with coconut milk, I'm almost positive it's because of the fat. I've witnessed the same texture in other flavors that brought fat to the mix. If you were going to use them as marshmallows, it may or may not be an issue. The texture was not off-putting to me or anyone else who tried them, especially when coated in chocolate. Since you are going to melt them with other ingredients to make rice krispie treats, the final texture of the marshmallow itself is completely irrelevant. You don't even have to let them cool or set up. Once you've beat the mix to fluff it up fully, you can just scoop it into a pan with whatever else you're using for the base and keep going with the rice krispie treats.

[etalanian]

I use the "lite" coconut milk and it works very well. I like to roll them in toasted coconut after they are cut.

Eileen

[pringle007]

If you are going to melt them, why not just make a coconut marshamllow cream instead, or like already suggested, just mix the marshmallow batter into the kripies before it sets. No need to "melt"

[Doodad]

Yes I realize that now. Did not know really how it was done.

First batch yesterday was good, but did not hold together well with the added fat of the curry. And too much curry. Trying again later this week.

[pjm333]

Here is a recipe for marshmallow, I never made coconut but I would just replace the 2 cups of fruit puree with 1 cup cocnut milk & 1 cup coco lopez ??

Marshmallow

2 cups fruit puree

24 gelatin leaves, soaked and drained

1 1/2 cups water

6 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups light corn syrup

Spray 1 sheet pan with non stick spray and line with parchment paper and spray again. Place the fruit puree and gelatin in a 20 qt mixer. Cook sugar, water and corn syrup to 240 degrees add to bowl with puree and gelatin, beat at low speed first to mix then at high speed and beat stiff. It will triple in volume, you cant over beat this mix. Add to sheet pan and spread even & chill, cut into strips and roll in sifted 10X and cut into pieces and roll in 10X again and dry at room temp.

[emmalish]

I just made a batch of marshmallows for a bake sale at my friend's son's school (I gave them some for Christmas last year and they wasted no time requesting some for the sale this year), and I'm making another two batches on the weekend for a baking exchange at work.

In the past, I've cut them with an oiled pizza cutter and it was a sticky goopy mess. Making the marshmallows is fine, but I dreaded the cutting process. This time I followed someone's suggestion to skip the oil and just use a liberal amount of the powdered sugar/starch mixture (can't remember where I read it – sorry).

What I did was spoon a layer of the starch mixture on top of my slab of marshmallows, cover that with a piece of parchment and gently turn it over so I could coat the other side as well. Instead of using the pizza cutter, I just used a sharp chef's knife the same length as the slab so I could slice right through in one smooth motion. I had them all done and cleaned up in less than half an hour! It was completely painless! I'm never using the oil method again. The only thing I'll do differently next time is place the slab on a flexible cutting board rather than parchment (I cut right through it – oops – just a pile of parchment ribbon left at the end).

Edited to say: Aha! it was Stuckey on the previous page who suggested skipping the oil...

Edited December 3, 2009 by emmalish (log)

[Lior]

Was it sticky on the cut sides which are not top or bottom? This is my problem.