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Marshmallow Filling

A sweet filling made from gum arabic, powdered sugar, gelatin, and beaten egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Marshmallow Filling

Why it works: Sugar and gelatin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Marshmallow Filling

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the gum-arabic

  1. Soak the gum-arabic in ½ cup of warm water for 30 minutes.

  2. Add ½ cup of boiling water to the soaked gum-arabic in a double boiler.

  3. Stir in ½ lb. of powdered sugar and heat for 20 minutes.

  4. Add 1 tablespoon of soaked gelatin to the mixture.

Whip and finish

  1. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.

  2. Slowly pour the hot mixture over the beaten egg whites while mixing.

  3. Continue beating for 15 minutes or until the mixture is completely cool.

  4. Ensure your cake is cold before spreading the filling between the layers.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Gelatin + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pure gum-arabic
Thickens and stabilizes the filling so it holds its shape and texture.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they give the filling its light, airy structure.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture, helping it hold its form once cooled.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and dissolves into the mixture to shape its body.

The step that matters

Pouring the hot mixture over the egg whites. Pouring slowly while beating lets the hot syrup cook and stabilize the whites without deflating them. Pouring too fast or letting the mixture cool too much can cause lumps or weak foam that won't hold.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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