Features of the preparation of sweets. TOP-5 best marshmallow recipes from gelatin, agar-agar, egg whites, with strawberries and chocolate. Video recipes.
Marshmallows are a favorite sweet of the American kids, reminiscent of marshmallows or soufflés. It is often called marshmallow, although there is no applesauce in the composition, and the structure is more porous. Previously, sweets were prepared on the basis of marshmallow root, but now gelatin and starch serve as a thickener for them. Sweetness can be added to cocoa, hot chocolate, cakes and pastries are decorated with mastic based on it, and it is also often fried during forest picnics. Children love the taste of the marshmallows fried over the fire. The combination of viscous caramel and delicate airy marshmallow inside will not leave indifferent many adults. Next, we will consider what marshmallows are made of, what are the basic principles of cooking, as well as the most popular and simple recipes suitable for use at home.
Features of cooking marshmallows
The name of the sweets "marshmallows" comes from the English "marsh mallow". In English-speaking countries, the plant is called marsh mallow or marshmallow. From its root in ancient Egypt, they made a thickener for medicinal lozenges that help with sore throat and colds. The core was removed from it, boiled with sugar syrup, and the resulting mixture was dried to a porous state. The resulting "sponge" was chewed for sore throat. The juice of the marshmallow root was mixed with nuts and honey, making sweets from it.
In the 19th century, French pastry chefs adopted the recipe for Egyptian delicacies and began to prepare them for visitors in different regions of the country. But the process of extracting the thickener from the marshmallow root was very laborious, so the French began to figure out how to prepare marshmallows from more affordable products. So, to obtain sweets of the desired consistency, they began to use egg white or gelatin with corn starch.
The modern look of marshmallows was received only in the middle of the last century, when the American Alex Doumack developed the process of extrusion of marshmallows and was able to automate its production. In a special device, the ingredients are mixed, squeezed out in a cylindrical shape and cut into pieces, after which they are sprinkled with a mixture of starch and powdered sugar.
Note! The sweetness is often called marshmallow, but the composition of marshmallows is slightly different, since it does not include fruit puree, and the classic recipe does not contain egg white.
Now every American housewife knows how to make marshmallows, and she prepares it according to her own proven recipe. It may differ in ingredients or proportions, while the technology for preparing a treat is almost identical and has the following features:
- Invert syrup … This is a sweet base for marshmallows. It is prepared independently from a large amount of sugar, citric acid and water. You can also use ready-made syrups - corn, maple or liquid honey.
- Thickener … To thicken the sweet syrup, you can use gelatin, agar-agar, commercial jelly in bags, and the most authentic ingredient is marshmallow root. Any of these ingredients must be soaked in water and allowed to swell.
- Whipping … The swollen thickener must be whipped with a mixer, pouring it in during the whipping process in a thin stream. The process of making sweets is completed when the mass doubles in volume.
- Freezing … Due to the large amount of gelling substances, the pastille solidifies without additional heat treatment, but to speed up the cooking process, you can put the mold in the refrigerator.
- Sprinkling … After hardening, the marshmallow must be sprinkled with a dry mixture, which will prevent the candies from sticking together. It can be a mixture of starch with powdered sugar, cocoa, nuts, coconut and other bulk ingredients.
- Additives … If desired, when whipping pastilles, you can add food coloring, vanilla sugar, cinnamon or any other flavor enhancers to the mass.
TOP 5 marshmallow recipes
You can buy marshmallows in every supermarket. Sweets of different sizes and colors are on sale. But commercial candies contain various thickeners, dyes and preservatives of unnatural origin, so it's best to learn how to make marshmallows with your own hands. Such a delicacy will certainly not harm your children and will not cause an allergic reaction. First, we will learn how to make marshmallows at home according to a classic recipe, then we will experiment with the ingredients and try author's recipes for this incredibly tasty and original sweetness.
Classic marshmallows
Knowing how to make marshmallows at home according to the classic recipe, you can further add various toppings or dyes to it, each time getting a new tasty treat. Any starch is suitable for its preparation. Next, a marshmallow recipe step by step for a novice pastry chef.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 207 kcal kcal.
- Servings - 10
- Cooking time - 1 hour
Ingredients:
- Sugar - 500 g
- Water - 1 tbsp.
- Gelatin - 30 g
- Soda - 1/3 tsp
- Vanilla sugar - 15 g
- Lemon juice - 1 tablespoon
- Starch - 1/2 tbsp.
- Powdered sugar - 1/2 tbsp.
- Vegetable oil - 2 tablespoons
Step by step preparation of classic marshmallows:
- Prepare the syrup first. In a deep bowl, combine 50 ml of water, lemon juice and 100 g of sugar. Bring the resulting solution to a boil with constant stirring. When the syrup comes to a boil, place it on the smallest burner and cook until it has the consistency of honey. Cool the prepared syrup.
- Make a gelatin solution. To do this, pour 100 ml of cold water into a wide bowl, dilute the gelatin in it and leave it to swell for 20 minutes. When the time is up, heat the solution until it becomes homogeneous.
- Pour the remaining water into the chilled syrup, add sugar and baking soda. With constant stirring, bring the syrup to a boil and cook for 7-10 minutes.
- Pour the syrup into the gelatinous solution in a thin stream, while constantly beating the mass with a mixer. Use it until the mixture doubles in size. This can take up to 10 minutes. After that add vanilla sugar, mix everything again.
- Cover the form in which the marshmallow will solidify with parchment, grease it with vegetable oil.
- Pour the whipped mixture into the prepared form, cover everything with foil, leave for several hours to harden.
- Prepare your sprinkles. Combine the icing sugar and starch. Pour half of the powder on the table, put the frozen marshmallow on it, sprinkle it with the remaining sprinkling on top.
- Grease a sharp knife with vegetable oil and cut the sprinkled marshmallow into pieces of arbitrary shape. Roll the resulting fragments in the sprinkling again.
Now you know how to make classic marshmallows. If you cut the sweetness into large pieces, then it can be fried over a fire, smaller marshmallows can be added to cocoa or chocolate.
Vegan Agar Marshmallows
The easiest way to make marshmallows at home is from gelatin, but this method is not suitable for vegans. For them, marshmallow is prepared from agar-agar - a thickener based on algae. According to this recipe, marshmallows are more tender and viscous.
Ingredients:
- Sugar - 575 g
- Citric acid - 1 g
- Water - 265 ml
- Soda - 1 g
- Agar-agar - 25 g
- Powdered sugar - 50 g
- Cornstarch - 1 tsp
How to make Vegan Agar Marshmallows step by step:
- Pour 175 g of sugar and citric acid into a saucepan. Pour 75 ml of water here.
- Put the mass on fire, boil and cook until the syrup becomes viscous. On average, this takes 30 minutes.
- Pour soda into the syrup, mix everything until the bubbles disappear. The presence of bubbles indicates a reaction between soda and citric acid.
- Dissolve agar-agar in 100 ml of warm water, wait until it swells.
- When the syrup has cooled slightly, add 400 g of sugar to it and add 90 ml of water. Cook until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Beat swollen agar-agar with a mixer. While whisking, pour hot syrup into it in a thin stream. Beat until the mass doubles in volume.
- Cover the form in which the marshmallow will solidify with cellophane, pour the whipped mass.
- Put the mold in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours, when the homemade marshmallow hardens, sprinkle it with a mixture of powdered sugar and starch, and then cut it with a knife sprinkled with the same mixture.
- The resulting marshmallows are ideal for healthy eating advocates. It turns out to be sweet, viscous and incredibly tasty.
Chocolate marshmallows
Marshmallows made according to this simple recipe look like marshmallows, marshmallows and bird's milk candies at the same time. Thanks to the addition of chocolate, they acquire a unique sweetness, and such a product is definitely not found on store shelves. In just half an hour of trying, you will have 20 servings of incredibly tasty marshmallow.
Ingredients:
- Milk or dark (75%) chocolate with nuts - 100 g
- Gelatin - 10 g
- Water - 160 ml
- Sugar - 150 g
- Honey - 5 tablespoons
- Cocoa powder - 3 tablespoons
Step by step preparation of chocolate marshmallows:
- Pour gelatin with water and let it stand until it swells. If it dissolves quickly, skip this step.
- Put the swollen gelatin on a low heat, add sugar. With constant stirring, cook until the added ingredients are completely dissolved. Do not bring to a boil, but remove from heat immediately after dissolving.
- Melt the chocolate bar in a water bath or microwave. In the second option, turn on the stove three times for 30 seconds. Stir thoroughly after each time.
- Mix melted chocolate with honey, syrup and gelatin.
- Beat the mass for 5-10 minutes.
- Cover the form with sides with cellophane, grease it with vegetable oil.
- Pour the mass into the mold and refrigerate for an hour.
- Cut the frozen dessert into portions with a wet knife.
- Dip each bite in cocoa.
If you take a bar with nuts for chocolate marshmallows, then small nut crumbs will come across in a delicate soufflé.
Marshmallows with strawberries
According to this recipe, marshmallows at home are very tender and fragrant, not a single purchased marshmallow can compare with this tasty and healthy marshmallow.
Ingredients:
- Fresh strawberries - 300 g
- Sugar - 450 g
- Gelatin - 20 g
- Cold boiled water - 70 g
- Powdered sugar - 1 tablespoon
- Cornstarch - 1 tablespoon
Step-by-step preparation of marshmallows with strawberries:
- Cover the form in which the dessert will solidify with cellophane, grease it with vegetable oil.
- Pour gelatin with water and leave to swell.
- Wash the strawberries, remove the tails, beat with a blender in mashed potatoes.
- Pour the homogeneous fruit mass into a saucepan, add sugar to it and put on fire. Bring the puree to a boil and cook until all the sugar is dissolved.
- Remove the prepared syrup from heat, add gelatin to it. Mix everything.
- Beat the mixture with a mixer for 7-8 minutes. It should become lighter, thicker and more voluminous.
- Pour the increased mass into a mold, put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
- Mix starch with powdered sugar. Pour half of the mixture onto the table. Roll the frozen pastille in the powder.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the marshmallow into portions and sprinkle with the remaining sprinkles.
Strawberry marshmallow turns out to be very tender and elastic. The same step-by-step recipe can be used to make a dessert of currant or any other aromatic berry.
Marshmallows in chocolate
It will take no more than 20 minutes to cook this type of marshmallow at home, but in the end you will get a very delicate and delicious dessert in chocolate glaze.
Ingredients:
- Chicken egg white - 4 pcs.
- Gelatin - 40 g
- Powdered sugar - to taste
- Cocoa - 20 g
- Instant coffee - 5 g
- Water - 400 g
- Lemon juice to taste
- Vanillin - to taste
Step-by-step preparation of marshmallows in chocolate:
- Mix gelatin with powdered sugar and pour a glass of hot water. Leave the mixture to cool completely.
- Mix proteins with vanilla and lemon juice, beat with a mixer until foam forms.
- Add half of the gelatin to the whites, whisk everything again until smooth.
- Put the resulting mass in a mold and put it in the refrigerator to freeze.
- Pour a glass of water into the remaining gelatin, add cocoa and coffee. Mix everything.
- Pour icing over the frozen dessert and place it in the refrigerator again until it solidifies.
You can put chocolate marshmallows on the table in the same dish in which it froze, or cut into portions and serve on separate plates for dessert.
