15 Homemade Marshmallow Recipes that are a Perfect Dream (2024)

FAQs

What's in marshmallows chemmatters answers? ›

A typical marshmallow contains sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin, plus some air. That's it. “A marshmallow is basically a foam that's stabilized by gelatin,” says Richard Hartel, a food engineer at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In marshmallows, the foam is made up of air suspended in a liquid sugar mixture.

Air bubbles make marshmallows light and fluffy

That's because marshmallows are a foam. They contain a lot of tiny air bubbles which are surrounded and stabilized by sugar and proteins from egg whites and gelatin. Since air doesn't weigh much, adding it into a product decreases its density.

WHY ARE MY MARSHMALLOWS DENSE? If your sugar syrup goes over 240 even a couple of degrees, your sugar will be too firm and will cause your marshmallows to be hard instead of fluffy.

Although most gelatin is obtained from pigs bones, there is no meat present in sweet marshmallows. Most marshmallows contain gelatin which is a substance obtained from collagen found in the bones of various animals, including cattle, pigs and fish.

Artificial blue color #1 - Why does a white marshmallow have blue coloring? Well, sometimes those marshmallows can be on the shelf for a very long time, and the blue dye helps to keep them white. We prefer to sell our marshmallows as fresh as possible, and within a timeframe that they keep their all-natural colors.

Even just a couple degrees too hot or too cool makes all the difference. If the sugar isn't cooked hot enough, they'll be mushy (and possibly contribute to the "soggy" factor mentioned above).

Foods like jellybeans, marshmallows, and other gelatin-based foods also typically contain pork byproducts and are not considered Halal. Even products like vanilla extract and toothpaste can contain alcohol! Muslims will generally not eat meat that has also come in contact with pork.

Store homemade marshmallows layered between sheets of wax or parchment paper in an airtight container. If kept in a dry place at cool room temperature, they should keep for about a month. Marshmallows that include mix-ins or that have been dipped in chocolate will have a slightly shorter shelf life.

Cornstarch and powdered sugar.

This makes up the dusting mixture, which we'll be sifting over the top of the marshmallows while they set and rolling them in after they've been cut.

Hotter temperatures makes the air trapped inside the marshmallow expand and take up more space, forcing the flexible sugary mixture to stretch. Eventually, if the pressure is too much? Kaboom. But take the marshmallow out of the heat, and it'll deflate — although the stretched out gelatin doesn't bounce back.

Is it okay to microwave marshmallows? ›

You can also melt marshmallows in a microwave. Heat them in a large microwave-safe bowl with a couple of tablespoons of water. You'll need to check them every 10 seconds, stirring each time to ensure they melt evenly.

Marshmallows are made of sugar, corn syrup (sugar), water and gelatin. They can have other things added for flavor and color, but that's it. The magic is how the ingredients are combined. Marshmallows are a scaffolding of sugar and gelatin that stays rigid enough to become a network of stable air bubbles.

When marshmallows are roasted, a chemical change happens. When you toast marshmallows, the heat causes a chemical reaction producing water molecules, which then evaporate, leaving carbon behind (the blackened part of the roasted marshmallow).

Marshmallows are a sugar based food that is mainly made of gelatin, sugar, and water that have been whipped till spongy, and then formed into a small cubes. A chemical reaction occurs when the collagen from gelatin comes in contact with water and hydrolysis occurs.