Marshmallows

Update: I just found an English-language marshmallow recipe from 1824. It was published in John Cooke's   Cookery and Confectionary

Toasting marshmallows over a campfire, colorful Peeps at Easter, I have many fond memories of marshmallows, all of them featuring those uniform sugary pillows purchased at the grocery store. It was a surprise when I discovered just how much better homemade marshmallows are, with their softer texture and wide range of possible flavors.

The name comes from the marsh mallow plant (Althea officinalis), a plant that ancient Egyptians and Greeks used for its anti-inflammatory and other medicinal qualities. In Egypt the sticky root sap was also mixed with honey and nuts as a sweet food. Although marsh mallow roots continued to be used for medicine, marshmallow sweets got their start in 19th century France as pâté de guimauve (literally marsh mallow paste). These lozenges were made from the sap combined with egg whites, sugar and sap.

As I don’t read or speak French my research has been limited to English-language cookbooks. The first published recipe I found is in the 1862 cookbook The Royal English and Foreign Confectioner by Charles Elmé Francatelli. By the 1870s marshmallow recipes increasingly begin to call for gum arabic, or occasionally gum tragacanth, as a thickener instead of the root sap. The 1885 recipe for Marshmallow Drops in Frye's Practical Candy Maker states that, “…some use a decoction of Marshmallow Root in making the drops, but as it gives them a bitter taste, I always omit it.”

Marshmallows as we know them depend on a sugar syrup added to a foam made from protein such as egg whites and/or gelatin. Commercially produced gelatin sheets come on the market in the mid-nineteenth century but when powdered gelatin became available at the turn of the century recipes for marshmallows became very popular.

In a survey of 71 cookbooks published between 1865 and 1900 I only found nine with marshmallow recipes. In 72 cookbooks from 1901 to 1930, 38 included one or more marshmallow recipe. In addition to plain vanilla, there are lemon, chocolate, raspberry, rose, mint, caramel, and many other flavors. Other recipes called for marshmallows to be added to fudge, dipped in chocolate or caramel, or stuffed into dates.

One typical recipe comes from Dame Curtsey's Book of Candy Making published in 1913.

Marshmallows Made With Gelatine
These marshmallows are more wholesome than the better-known variety, and are made by dissolving two heaping tablespoons of powdered gelatine in eight tablespoons of cold water. Add the same quantity of cold water to two cups of granulated sugar and heat until dissolved. To this syrup put the dissolved gelatine, and partially cool. Flavor to taste, and do not omit a few grains of salt. Beat with an egg-beater until white and fluffy, then with a spoon until soft enough to smooth into a sheet. Butter square tins and dust thickly with powdered sugar; pour in the mixture and let cool. When it will no longer stick to the fingers, turn out upon waxed paper, dusted with powdered sugar, and cut into squares, rolling in the sugar to coat all sides evenly. Or roll in powdered macaroons, or toasted and rolled cocoanut, as preferred.

I’ve experimented with a variety of flavors, but my favorite uses the blackberries from my garden. I usually make syrup from the berries to drizzle over ice cream or yogurt or to top pancakes and waffles. Incorporating the syrup into the candy is easy and delicious.

Blackberry Marshmallows
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup blackberry syrup
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
Confectioners’ sugar

Combine the gelatin with 1/2 cup of blackberry syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer. Combine the remaining blackberry syrup with the granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking until it reaches 240° F. Remove from heat. With the whisk attachment on the mixer beat the gelatin mixture on slow. Gradually pour in the syrup mixture then set speed to high and whip until the mixture is very thick. Beat in the vanilla until thoroughly combines.

Spray a 8 by 12 inch nonmetal backing dish  with cooking spray and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Pour in the marshmallow mixture, smooth with a spatula, dust with more confectioners’ sugar and allow to stand eight hours or overnight. Turn out onto a board and cut into squares. Dust with more confectioners’ sugar, as needed.

Blackberry Syrup
4 cups blackberries
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water

Combine berries, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Mash berries and strain, either in a mesh strainer or through layers of cheesecloth, and discard the seeds and pulp.
This is delicious on pancakes or as an ice cream topping.