Mini marshmallows: fun or gross?

[pastrygirl]

I was talking to an ice cream maker recently, we were dissing another local small batch producer who puts mass-made ingredients like Oreo cookies and mini-marshmallows in her $10/pint ice cream (my guy makes his own cookies and marshmallows). 

 

I've been debating adding some sort of marshmallow to a hot chocolate mix this year, don't really love marshmallow enough to make my own, but also feel like the commercial mini ones scream "cheap" and are kind of gross.  But I also feel like 98% of the public doesn't care.

 

Full disclosure, I do occasionally use marshmallows for quick rolled fondant, but I also tell people to go ahead and peel it off because it's pure sugar and rather disgusting. 

 

What do you think, is it worth making them and charging extra, or will people be equally tickled by the cuteness and nostalgia of little puffs of high fructose corn syrup and preservatives?

 

 

 

 

[MelissaH]

I'm not a huge marshmallow-in-hot-chocolate person. But I have no objection to commercially made marshmallows if I don't have my own on hand, as long as they aren't the multicolored ones in artificial fruity flavors. Would it destroy the effect if you sold the hot chocolate mix, and had packages of marshmallows ready to add for a fee? (Or two different packages, one version with the marshmallows and one without?)

 

To more directly answer your question: the people who like marshmallows probably won't have an issue paying for them, and may well be tickled. The people who don't like marshmallows won't.

[Darienne]

I think you are correct about 98% of the public.  I don't like commercial marshmallows and so I won't buy your mix.  But I'm just one marshmallow snob plus one more unnamed person and the other 98 will.  Too bad.  I do like homemade marshmallows...orange...dipped in dark chocolate...yum...but that's another thread. 

 

Go for it, pastrygirl. 

[Shelby]

I like marshmallows in any form.  Even the crunchy semi-gross ones in store bought, fat-free hot chocolate mix.

[MelissaH]

10 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I like marshmallows in any form.  Even the crunchy semi-gross ones in store bought, fat-free hot chocolate mix.

Psst: marshmallows are almost always fat-free!

[K8CanCook]

I like marshmallows, and each has a different flavor and varying texture to me; homemade minis are relatively easy to make (see Bravetart)...Could you hold a blind taste test with some of your regulars? 

To marsh or not to marsh, and if to marsh...then which to marsh? 

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

I like marshmallows in any form.  Even the crunchy semi-gross ones in store bought, fat-free hot chocolate mix.

 

OK, but I definitely draw the line at rainbow marshmallow bits a la Lucky Charms

 

[Shelby]

38 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

OK, but I definitely draw the line at rainbow marshmallow bits a la Lucky Charms

 

That's the only part I would eat out of there.

[Lisa Shock]

I personally am not fond of marshmallows but also find them fairly inoffensive. I tend to think they are bland, and I prefer crunchy bits in a dessert. I would not order them, but will quietly eat them in ice cream. That said, I think that most people view them as an important perk in hot chocolate. I also think that most of the public doesn't see much difference between factory made and house-made in this case. I'd just use the commercial ones unless you get a commission for a really super-high-end client.

[JeanneCake]

We make marshmallows for a client; they are vanilla, we toast them, dip them in chocolate and graham crumbs.  I wish we made flavored ones because those are more interesting to me.  If you are selling a premium hot chocolate mix, I'd want a really cool marshmallow to go with it. But probably only because I want to make a really cool flavored marshmallow or something mainstream like raspberry or orange, or black cherry, or even experiment with guava to see if it works.

[Lisa Shock]

Actually, black cherry with hot chocolate sounds delicious.

[Pastrypastmidnight]

I guess I’m weird, I big puffy heart homemade marshmallows  .

 

I do like the idea of having them as an add-on for those that care about them. 

[gfweb]

Not a fan of marshmallow in any form. 

[pastrygirl]

4 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Not a fan of marshmallow in any form.  

 

I like them toasted, and don't mind one in hot chocolate if the chocolate is not too sweet.  I don't like just plain marshmallow, though, like as a layer in a cookie.  The texture plus being so very sweet. ... next question, how to make them less sweet?  Hot chocolate with cocoa marshmallows?  More glucose than sugar?

 

Every now and then I decide to make some but they never wow me.  I'll probably make another batch and decide against them yet again 😆

 

 

 

[Tri2Cook]

8 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

next question, how to make them less sweet? 

I've found references to replacing all or part of the sugar with isomalt to reduce sweetness. It's on my list of things to get around to trying but that's becoming a pretty long list so who knows when I'll do it. 

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I like them toasted, and don't mind one in hot chocolate if the chocolate is not too sweet.  I don't like just plain marshmallow, though, like as a layer in a cookie.  The texture plus being so very sweet. ... next question, how to make them less sweet?  Hot chocolate with cocoa marshmallows?  More glucose than sugar?

 

Every now and then I decide to make some but they never wow me.  I'll probably make another batch and decide against them yet again 😆

 

 

 

That's the thing. Too cloyingly sweet.  No real flavor either unless charred. But that's so s'more

And the texture...

[Kim Shook]

9 hours ago, Shelby said:

I like marshmallows in any form.  Even the crunchy semi-gross ones in store bought, fat-free hot chocolate mix.

I swear to God, @Shelby and I were separated at birth.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 ... next question, how to make them less sweet?

 

How about trehalose?

 

[Tri2Cook]

7 hours ago, gfweb said:

No real flavor either unless charred.

if the marshmallows you're eating have no real flavor of their own, then you're eating the wrong marshmallows.

[kayb]

I'm ok with marshmallows in hot chocolate, (I'm also fine without them), impaled on a straightened-out coat hanger and toasted over an open fire, and of course, in Rice Krispy treats.

 

I cannot abide them in or atop sweet potatoes, or fruit salads. And God preserve me from the "green stuff" and "pink stuff" congealed salads of my childhood, packed full of the multicolored mini-marshmallows! (I'm fine with both green stuff and pink stuff w/o said marshmallows.)

 

I have to confess I have never had a homemade marshmallow. Might change my tune; I dunno.

[Darienne]

4 hours ago, kayb said:

 

I have to confess I have never had a homemade marshmallow. Might change my tune; I dunno.

Since childhood I have found commercial marshmallows to be somewhat revolting.  Might add that I did have a bad marshmallow experience in Grade Two.  

 

Then after joining the ranks of the 'love-to-cook' ranks...after spending 65 years hating doing it...I progressed from making this...and making that...and the other...to trying homemade marshmallows one day, for the fun of it of course. ,  Huzzah!  They were wonderful.  So that's what a marshmallow can taste like!  I was delighted.  (I was also a life-long ice cream 'I can take it or leave it alone' , mostly leave it alone, until I made it at home and said the same thing...the huzzah! bit.)

 

The epitome of my marshmallow making, as noted in a previous post, making orange-flavored ones and dipping them in dark chocolate.  Oh my goodness!   Paradise on earth.

So, kayb, give it a try.

[Pastrypastmidnight]

Real homemade marshmallows with actual vanilla bean and a pinch of salt can actually taste buttery. Fruit flavored ones with real fruit juice or purée and a touch of citric acid and bright and just lovely. Give them a try!

 

But, beware! I’ve burned out more than one KitchenAid making marshmallows, so just be careful!