We can has marshmallows!

[rikibeth]

So, yesterday I bought myself a copy of Elizabeth Falkner's Demolition Desserts: Recipes from Citizen Cake. This was a direct result of looking through tamidon's copy while she was cooking breakfast on Sunday morning. (Side note: goddessfarmer, your bacon is the best I have EVER tasted.) I got home from work today and was reading through it, mostly for entertainment, although also with an eye towards things I could do at work, even though the book is heavily focused on plated desserts and that's not what I'm doing, I'm doing bakery cafe stuff for the most part.

But then I got to the S'mores Brownies. With handmade marshmallows, of course. Yeah. I did handmade marshmallows at school, and it pretty much cured me of enjoying them -- because when you add the gelatin to the hot sugar syrup, it smells NASTY BEYOND BELIEF. They taste good when they're done, but the preparation just grosses me out. And eternaleponine, since she went vegetarian and realized that gelatin was made of hooves, has also been grossed out by marshmallows.

But what was that? In the sidebar, it said that the marshmallows could be made with gelatin (p. 212) or xanthan gum(p. 213). Well! I turned right to page 213 to see if this could be true. A vegetarian marshmallow?

YES! Direct substitution. No weird technique or anything. Just the usual Italian meringue, plus the gum, whip and chill.

I was so excited, I went right out to Whole Foods to buy xanthan gum. Came home and got right to it.

The pan of marshmallow is chilling in the refrigerator right now. The stuff on the beaters definitely tasted and felt like fluff.

And it didn't smell nasty!

I am looking forward to getting creative with flavorings. Cinnamon, of course, and I'm also thinking of bergamot, for an Earl Grey dessert theme, but I am more than willing to entertain suggestions. You can flavor a marshmallow with just about ANYTHING.

Whee!

Comments

[donnad.livejournal.com]

Gelatin is not made from hooves. I called the Knox company and actually asked them a few years ago, I use gelatin in some of my sorbets. My original inquiry was to find out if it was kosher for a friend, to find out if she could eat the sorbet. Their response was "It's made from the connective tissue of pig and cow." So it isn't kosher nor vegetarian. But it's also not hooves.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Okay, not hooves. Tendons and cartilage. We did know this. But we have this running joke about hooves, see. And either way it grosses eternaleponine out, and the SMELL when I made marshmallows at school was indeed foul.

Xanthan gum ftw!

[surelle.livejournal.com]

This is very exciting! How much xanthan gum? (that stuff is expensive!)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

1 1/2 teaspoons for a batch of marshmallows based on 3 egg whites that fills an 8" square pan. So not very much.

And, thanks to you and tikvah, I knew exactly where to look for it -- the GF baking section!

[tikvah.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I could be of service. :-)

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

MMmmarshmallows! Yay!!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I may be bringing some to Hot Foods.

[head-shrinker.livejournal.com]

OMG, vegetarian marshmallows! I know you can buy them online, but that's too much of a hassle. I want to know how they turn out - I've MISSED rice krispie treats (yeah, I'm a dork and haven't tried the fluff yet) and hot cocoa with marshmallows.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

I think we're gonna be doing hot cocoa with CINNAMON marshmallows.

I just poked the pan in the fridge. It hasn't been four hours yet but they feel like they're setting up nicely.

Please note, you CANNOT do them without a candy thermometer -- you have to cook the sugar syrup to 248 F and then pour it into the egg whites with the beaters running. Are you experienced with hot sugar syrup? If you are not, please please PLEASE remember that it's the kitchen equivalent of NAPALM, and be careful.

[head-shrinker.livejournal.com]

LOL, I am not experienced in any way with candy making (although I DO know what a candy thermometer is and might have one....somewhere...)

I guess I won't be making any yummy marshmallows - the few times I've tried to make any sort of fudge or candy it was an utter and absolute DISASTER. Boo.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Come visit and we'll make them together, and then you can be more comfortable making them by yourself.

Or, you know, we could send you a care package.

[head-shrinker.livejournal.com]

:-D

No objections to either of those options!

[mephistakitten.livejournal.com]

You don't need a candy thermometer, I can totally tell hard and soft ball by eye. I usually use cold water to back up my thermometer measurements.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Anything that's too hot for me to test by pinky finger, I use a thermometer.

[mephistakitten.livejournal.com]

I learned how to make fudge without a thermometer so I got good at the cold water testing. I don't trust my thermometer until I prove that it agrees with my testing. =) (Digital probe thermometer now, I like it a lot!)

[ihadtimetokill.livejournal.com]

Marshmallows are made of win...I'm pretty ridiculously excited for you.

[mephistakitten.livejournal.com]

Oooh! You've discovered my obsession! I'm going to try the xanthan gum for my skiing marshmallows.

I've made:
-Orange flavor (orange oil, 1 tsp + 1 tsp vanilla) dipped in dark chocolate and red+green festive sprinkles. Marshmallows were cut to triangular shape
-Peppermint flavor (1 tsp peppermint oil) dipped in dark chocolate and crushed candycane with red candymelt drizzled on the other side.
-Baileys irish cream (1-2 tbsp baileys) didn't stay as long as others, got dry faster for some reason. Dusted with cocoa powder/powdered sugar/corn starch
-Lemon (1 tbsp lemon zest, 1 tsp lemon oil, 1 tsp vanilla) top of mallow sprinkled with yellow coarse sugar
-Raspberry

I plan to do:
-Almond, rolled in crushed almons
-Dutch process cocoa for chocolate ones, sprinkled with cacao nibs and rolled in cocoa powder/sugar high ratio mixture (very chocolatey)
-Strong vanilla, cut in circles for application to hot chocolate
-Citrus medley (tangerine, lime, lemon, different tints with different zests)
-Blood orange
-Midori
-Grand marinier
(I have extract of everything I could find, so I have to try at least one batch with each flavor... anise, blueberry, rum... but beyond flavoring, presentation is so much fun!)
-I've gotten a special request for basil flavored mallows. Will wait until I have some fresh.

[ihadtimetokill.livejournal.com]

Oh my lord, it is entirely possible that I love you, simply because of the marshmallowy goodness you can create. Oooooo.

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

She is cool otherwise, too. SCIENCE. And VNV Nation.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

OMG VEGETARIAN MARSHMALLOWS!!!

I have to try making these sometime! Hmm, what would be interesting flavoring...lemon, clove, chai, mint, Thai tea, cherry, ginger, nutmeg...the possibilities are many!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

The book has a suggestion of saffron-rosewater, to go in Indian hot milk drinks.

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

So what was the verdict? How were they?

Ever found a vegan recipe? I can't even imagine trying it without the eggs ... but a vegetarian recipe, that sounds fab!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

They taste good but they're very much inclined to stay in one blob of stuff instead of being separate marshmallows. I need to experiment with more cornstarch and drying times.

I can only imagine that a vegan recipe would go back to the origins of the term, and use a decoction of marshmallow root to thicken a sugar syrup. If then. Even then it might still have egg whites! This calls for Historical Research.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

If you substitute the xanthan gum for the gelatin in this recipe (http://habeasbrulee.com/2006/02/26/aztec-marshmallows/), it will be vegan. I am going to try it soon.

Hi to Rikibeth. I got here via la_directora because we were discussing marshmallows today and I want to make some cardomom & rosewater ones ;)

N.

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

Heh. So, rikibeth, nex0s is the friend I mentioned in my comment below. And now I'm truly flummoxed as to how you guys DON'T know each other, since you both came into my life via tikvah. What is up with that? :)

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

<lj user="tikvah" knows lots of people. Not all of them know each other. :)

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

I think I found it surprising because she knows you both in person, and you're relatively near one another geographically.

And you SHOULD know each other. You're both fabulous babes, both foodies...So, yeah. :)

[la-directora.livejournal.com]

Another person on my friends list talked today about making marshmallows, which brought me back to this entry. I don't suppose there is any chance that, if you get the time, you'd either post or e-mail me the recipe for the veggie marshmallows? I'd love to give them a try, and spend some time playing with flavors. (Cayenne/cinnamon marshmallows for hot chocolate, etc.)