Homemade Flavored Marshmallows

Ah, the lowly marshmallow. What fond memories these gooey little clouds of sugar bring us. Whether it be roasting them on an open camp fire, squeezing them in s'mores, or sipping them down with a cup of hot chocolate, these simple little treats remind many of us of happy times. But why should we rely on mass-produced marshmallows when they are so simple to make from scratch at home. And while we're at it, let boost the flavors to something more festive.

In this instructable, we'll go through the steps of making homemade marshmallows. Starting with a basic recipe, we'll make two variations of the almost endless flavors of marshmallows that can be made. In the spirit of the upcoming holidays, we will make butter-rum marshmallows and chocolate mint marshmallows.

Step 1: Ingredients and Tools

Ingredients:

3 packages of unflavored gelatin (.75 oz total)
1 cup of ice water
1 cup of light corn syrup
1.5 cups of white sugar
a pinch of salt (1/4 teaspoon if you are the measuring type)
1/3 cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
1/3 cup cornstarch
non-stick cooking spray
extracts and flavors ( for these, I used vanilla extract, rum flavoring, imitation butter, and peppermint extract)
coating chocolate (optional)
food coloring (optional)

Tools
Stand Mixer with balloon whisk attachment
Small saucepan with lid
Candy thermometer
13x9 inch baking pan. (I prefer glass, but other materials should work as well)
spatula (the more nonstick, the better)
aluminum foil
small mixing bowl
misc measuring spoons and cups
pizza cutter
a small shaker for dispensing powdered sugar (optional)

Comments

[lionspaw2182]

Could you use flavored gelatin to make different flavors or would that change the marshmallows?

[cainunable]

The recipe is pretty forgiving, so I suspect that flavored gelatin would work fine. Keep in mind however, you aren't using a great deal of gelatin (only .75 oz) so the flavor in flavored gelatin may not be strong enough to come through all that well.

[MjPadfoot]

ur a guy.....who cooks...wow!!!! and awesome looking marshmallows too...any more of u out there?

[RaNDoMLeiGH]

Robert Rodriguez, the film maker, says "not knowing how to cook is like not knowing how to f*ck." My all-time favorite cooking quote.

[bajablue]

LOL... I've never heard that one before!!!

[cainunable]

I'm sure there are plenty of other guys out there who cook, probably several are on this site.

[MjPadfoot]

not make completely absolutely mouthwatering marshmellows. that im afraid to say i can never make. shameful, my mum would say.

[Micizzle]

Do you have any other recommendations for flavoring? I want to play around with it, but i will be extremely sad if I screw it up :)

[cainunable]

So far I've done:
Regular vanilla,
Chocolate covered strawberry,
peppermint, (regular and chocolate covered)
butter rum,
key lime rolled in graham cracker crumbs (best the first day)

All of those turned out great. You could also try orange with vanilla to make an orange creamcicle-type flavor.

You can always get a small taste after you work in all the extracts to see if you want to add a little more. Just give it a try.

If you you want, start off with something pretty simple like vanilla or mint, and then add a chocolate drizzle to fancy it up a bit.

[FloridaFoodie]

VEGAN MARSHMALLOWS

Ingredients:

3 cups white sugar (can use vegan sugar without bone particles for filteration)
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup water

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup confectioners’ sugar for dusting

 

Directions:

 

Generously coat a 9- x 13-in. dish with vegetable cooking spray. In a large saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, salt and water. Heat to between 234 and 240 degress F, or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface. Removed from heat and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form, 10 to12 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.

 

Chill in refrigerator 8 hours or overnight. To cut, loosen edges with a knife. Dust surface with confectioners’ sugar and turn out onto a waxed paper lined surface. Dust with confectioners’ sugar again and cut with a knife.

 

May flavor with your choice of flavorings for variety!

 

[RaNDoMLeiGH]

That's not a marshmallow, it's taffy.

[9linus]

would it be possible to use maple syrup instead of corn?

[tudgeanator]

 Awesome 'ible! How do these these toast?

[cainunable]

They toasted up pretty well when I tried them last year.  I can't remember which flavors we tried, but we did a couple and they were both great.  You might just want to be more selective with what your outer coating is.

[mainoah]

I really want to try this, but my stand mixer is an older one and doesn't have a balloon whisk. Do you think it will work with the standard mixers, its what I use to whisk egg whites.

[cainunable]

You could probably try it, it just may not fluff up quite as much.

[ClareBS]

This is such a great instructable, would you consider making one on gum drops? I tried once and it was like a disaster in a mad chemist's lab. i must have done something very wrong.
The picture is of my almond marshmallows if it gets uploaded.

[cainunable]

I actually thought about doing gumdrops this past Halloween, but my other projects took too much of my time, so I couldn't perfect my recipe.  I might have to give them another try in the future.

[ClareBS]

These were fantastic and the instructions were very clear. I didn't have any good flavors so I used almond and fake vanilla but they came out delicious and perfect. Next time I'm going to get some cherry extract and drizzle chocolate on them for valentine's day.

[Adalei]

I just got done with the cooking part, and the marshmallow goo is -delicious-. I just have to wait for it to set up before I can eat the rest :D

[cainunable]

So, how did they turn out? Which flavor did you end up going with?

[Adalei]

 I've done both peppermint and vanilla plain, and they've both been DELICIOUS. I took a batch of the peppermint to work and everyone loved it. Some of them constantly ask for more when I bring in other treats :D

[jetblackdog]

One trick I use for making chocolate look more "splattered" is to dip a fork in the chocolate and flick it over the food. It's messier, but you get a nice random effect.

[craftthefuture]

OMG I'm so excited to try this! I'm a vegetarian and I don't eat gelatin, so I'm going to try using either pectin or agar! Yay!!!

[funnyfoo0]

a tip don't use vegetarian gelatin it doesn't work

[volquete]

pectin is made partially of animal fat

[craftthefuture]

Pretty sure you're thinking of gelatin, which is definitely animal derived. Pectin comes from fruit and other plant sources and is the most common gelling agent in jams and jellies.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectin

[volquete]

oh ok

[kitwah]

Hey, any luck with the veggie version?

[craftthefuture]

Sadly, this veggie marshmallow project has joined the ranks of the 'never been tried', which also includes vegan doughnuts, vegan tiramisou, and vegan tortellini due to lack of time. : ( I need a personal chef to recreate all these treats ;P

[lissivicious]

I know that there is vegan non-flavoured 'gelatin' on the market. Would you post how your experiment with the agar turns out for your fellow vegans and veggies?

[craftthefuture]

I do hearby pledge to report back on how it all goes. I'm aiming to try it out sometime before Christmas - it may be my pot luck item in a couple weeks!

[spasysheep]

Agar? Isn't that the stuff they use on germ culture dishes?

[craftthefuture]

Yep. It comes from seaweed. It's commonly used in vegan & chinese cuisines. I made an amazing sweet potato parfait from a veg magazine with agar....soooo good!

[deh260583]

 I think pectin is to soft and agar is to brittle. For a good chewy marshmallow, try using konjac gum or carrageenan.

[bengerszewski]

we used it in biology class for diffusion. we watched HCl diffuse through agar.

[cainunable]

I hope one of them works out for you, from what I've read around on the net there are definitely ways to make them vegetarian, but they aren't quite as good as the real thing. Once you perfect it, be sure to create your own Ible to show us how.

[Gh{O}sT]

damn no no-stick cooking spray...

[volquete]

awesome i cant wait to try >.

[8bit]

No mallow in marsh mallow?