Homemade Marshmallows: Recipes & Tips (Part 1)

[Wendy DeBord]

Well, I'm scared to talk about the lorAnn oils because I don't want to discourage you............ I've had very mixed results with them. Some are ok and some are just horrible. I mainly use them for hard sugar suckers. You have to use citric acid with their citrus fruit flavors or the flavor just doesn't come across at all. Also you'll find the smell over powering like you can't believe (like clear the room and you can't breath) and then the taste turns out very mild.....so it's hard to hit the right amount. The dirrections for amounts have never been right and I use about 4 times the amount suggested. So unforunately I think this will reguire some experimenting.....at least you know that.... and I'd start by making small batches to save your efforts.

[JustKay]

Thank you, Wendy. I will experiment and flavor only small portions to see how it works out. I bought it to make hard candy suckers but I thought I'd try with the marshmallows too.

[Joni]

Very nice Gary! You did a great job! I bet your co-workers were impressed!

Last night I did up bags of 4 in cinnamon and vanilla (separately of course), tied them up with raffia and put them in a basket to sell at the coffee shop I bake for. The owner has priced them at $3.95/bag for the "cinnamon hearts" and $3.25 for vanilla and they are selling. (that's in Canadian dollars) It seems like a lot of money to me but what the heck?! If they keep selling well I'm going to make Creme de Menthe ones for St. Patricks day. Mmmmmm...

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How much creme de menthe do you think you need to add...I made some chambord..put about 2-3 TBLS in...could not taste it.

Thanks.

[CanadianBakin']

Joni - I haven't tried it yet. I was going to add a bit and then taste before pouring it into the pan. fou de Bassan had mentioned 1 teaspoon was good and for you a couple tablespoons wasn't enough. I think someone else mentioned that they replaced all the water that you mix with the gelatin with a liqueur so I guess it'll be trial and error. With that in mind, maybe I'll try small batches to start. When I get it figured out, I'll let you know but it probably won't be for a couple weeks. If you do more testing in the meantime please post your results.

Kew - Thanks so much for posting how you make them! Do you find your knife gets gummed up without the oil? Do you have to wash it a few times while cutting?

[Gary]

Has anyone tried using vanilla paste in the recipe? I had a bottle of it in my hands this afternoon but, sadly, no cash in the pocket to buy it. It was mooshed up paste stuff with lots of those seeds. Plain white vanilla marshmallows seem so old-school after all this experimenting with strawberry, chocolate, etc. Just wondering if anyone has done it with vanilla paste and if the results are any good. I'm imagining thousands of vanilla seeds distributed throughout the marshmallow... kind of like Breyer's vanilla ice cream.

Gary

[Trishiad]

For some reason I couldn't view the recipe you're all talking about but I do make marshmallows with vanilla paste. Oddly, it doesn't give as much vanilla flavor but the speckles are really cute.

trish

[Gary]

For some reason I couldn't view the recipe you're all talking about but I do make marshmallows with vanilla paste.  Oddly, it doesn't give as much vanilla flavor but the speckles are really cute.

trish

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Trish,

I think the recipeGullet software isn't working. However, you can see the recipe in this thread, maybe around page 5 or 6.

Thanks for the note about the vanilla paste. I think I will try it but might add a bit of vanilla extract to make sure there is enough vanilla flavor to go along with the speckles.

I made the chocolate marshmallows last night based on Nightscotsman's recipe. Dissolving cocoa powder in boiling water made sort of a ganache-thick paste. It left little specs of chocolate when it got blended with the hot syrup.

The last time I made chocolate marshmallows I cooked the cocoa powder with the sugar syrup. No speckles of chocolate using that method. Comparing the two styles, my method seemed to produce a lighter texture and Nightscotsman's method made them a little denser. Both were delicious.

Gary

[Lysbeth]

Has anyone tried using vanilla paste in the recipe?  I had a bottle of it in my hands this afternoon but, sadly, no cash in the pocket to buy it.  It was mooshed up paste stuff with lots of those seeds.  Plain white vanilla marshmallows seem so old-school after all this experimenting with strawberry, chocolate, etc.  Just wondering if anyone has done it with vanilla paste and if the results are any good.  I'm imagining thousands of vanilla seeds distributed throughout the marshmallow... kind of like Breyer's vanilla ice cream.

Gary

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Gary, that's what I used for my vanilla marshmallows and they turned out great. Like you said, vanilla seeds everywhere, so they look nice and tasted great.

[alligande]

I have a question, I finally made the strawberry marshmallows and they came out great, but as I can't access the orginal recipe what are they coated in. I used a mixture of icing sugar and corn starch as that was what I had to hand, worked alright but what is every one else using ( I know Neil uses potato starch but do you mix in sugar?)

thanks Karen

[Patrick S]

Yes, I'm pretty sure Neil's recipe called for 1-1 potato starch and powder sugar.

[Gary]

My latest attempt at chocolate marshmallows came out better this time. I added a 1/4 cup of cocoa powder when the sugar/syrup mixture was about 220F. The mix bubbled up a bit after adding the cocoa... so next time I'll do it in a bigger pot.

This was a definite improvement over last time when I dissolved the cocoa powder in boiling water and put it in with the gelatine. It resulted in undissolved specs of cocoa powder. Yuck.

[maxmillan]

I hope this gets answered soon...whew, a 10-page thread!

I attempted nightscotscman's strawberry marshmallows and it turned out perfect. Going to use my co-workers as tasters. Thanks for the recipe.

Can I use a Silpat instead of oiling the foil wrap? Would it work if I wet the pan wtih water and sprinkle potato/sugar powder on it? I used a pizza cutter dipped in the potato/sugar powder and found it worked better than oiling a knife. I know it was mentioned to use Pam. I wanted to get away from using oil if possible.

I find the 50/50 potato starch/powder sugar tastes starchy. Has anyone found another proportion or other powder that I can use that tastes great?

Thanks for any help to my above questions.

[Patrick S]

I'm pretty sure that the marshmallows would stick to the silpat. Also, I've used like 2:1 or 3:1 sugar to starch ratio and its worked fine.

[mklynch]

I teach a class at the food bank that focuses on nutrition and thrifty meals, but for the last class of the series, I make marshmallows just for fun. It goes over so well.

I was telling some dinner guests about it and they wanted to see it, so we brainstormed and came up with a twist. I melted chocolate and swirled it in at the end and let them set up. I also make my own graham crackers and had some in the freezer. We crushed them up and rolled the marshmallows in them after we cut them. Wow!

I start teaching a middle school cooking club in a couple weeks and want to make rice crispy treats with our own marshmallows. Any one have any experience doing this?

[Wendy DeBord]

Yes, I make rice crispy treats with Neils marshmellow recipe regularly for the kids at work, it works great. Don't forget to add the butter as the recipe on the Rice Crispy box does.

I made some for Easter in the shape of carrots dyed orange and dipped the leaf area in green tinted white chocolate....and put them on sticks.

[Joni]

Yes, I make rice crispy treats with Neils marshmellow recipe regularly for the kids at work, it works great. Don't forget to add the butter as the recipe on the Rice Crispy box does.

I made some for Easter in the shape of carrots dyed orange and dipped the leaf area in green tinted white chocolate....and put them on sticks.

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Wendy...did you pipe them? Pictures please!!

[Wendy DeBord]

I pat them out in full sheet pans and then cut them out with a cookie cutter. It's easiest to cut them with-in an half-hour from making them, verses letting them completely set up, then cutting them out. I just looked thru my photos from yesterday and I can't believe I didn't get one shot of them! I did get shots of my plain marshmellow carrots. But my husband crashed our computor a couple weeks ago and I still haven't reloaded a photo program I need to shrink the pixels on photos so I can load them. It's on my list of things to do, but I won't have time for a while yet to do so. I will try to remember to do so later.

[maxmillan]

I resorted to brushing canola oil on my foil and with a bit of effort the marshmallows came off unscathed.

Question: Can I use a darker corn syrup? Or should I use a proportion of dark and light corn syrup?

Plus, Wendy DeBord, above, mentions to cut within 1/2 an hour after cooling if using a cookie cutter. Why would that make it easier to cut than if I wait the suggested 10-12 hours?

BTW, everyone loved the marshmallows, even those that don't regularly eat sweets.

[Wendy DeBord]

Plus, Wendy DeBord, above, mentions to cut within 1/2 an hour after cooling if using a cookie cutter.  Why would that make it easier to cut than if I wait the suggested 10-12 hours?

Talking about rice crispy treats and not just plain marshmellows:

I'm glad you asked this. There's more to my reasons then most people will encounter and I didn't explain myself well. I'm making my own cookie cutters cutting copper strips and bending them. They aren't always smooth on your hands because I'm not rolling over the edge you hand makes contact with like comerically made cookie cutters. So cutting thru items that require alot pressure is hard on my hands.

So I'm looking for the easiest way with what I'm using, which isn't probably what others are using. I also am not sodering my joins, instead I'm using duct tape.....so my joins aren't tough.

Technically you should be able to use dark corn syrup in place of light corn syrup.......... it will effect your taste and possibly your color. But it might not be objectional.

[techno foodie]

Here's a bit of a strange question: Is there any way to make this recipe not set up so much, i.e., make marshmallow cream instead of marshmallows?

I love making these marshmallows - just made a batch of the chocolate variety this weekend - but as much as I love the finished product, I love it best just after it's been whipped in the mixer.

How can you keep it from solidfying so much? Use less gelatin? Don't cook the sugar mixture so high? Or do you have to use a different recipe completely?

Thanks for any help!

[In2Pastry]

Those are absolutely wonderful, Wendy!! Thank you for posting the pictures for us to see.

Kelli

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome to The eGullet Society For Arts & Letters Kelli!!

I have assorted colors for chocolate, so I used colored white chocolate both to outline the flowers and to dip the greens of the carrots in.

[In2Pastry]

Thank you for the welcome Wendy. I am in awe of the talent shown on this board and I have already picked up so much information. I can't wait to try my hand at these marshmallows! Great technique for the tulips!

Thanks again

Kelli

[Patrick S]

Very creative and attractive stuff, Wendy. I wish we got to see more of the work you do.

[Patrick S]

Made some banana-flavored marshmallows last night using about 3.5t artificial banana flavoring and some gel coloring. Overall I'm happy with the flavor. They taste a bit like banana laffy-taffy --which I like-- but there is a very subtle, slightly unpleasant aftertaste. I used a store-brand banana flavoring, which may or may not be to blame, so I'll eventually try out a different flavoring.