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Dessert

Russian Marmalade

A gelatin-based confection made with sugar, glucose, soap bark, and flavoring.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Russian Marmalade

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 224°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the gelatine and syrup

  1. Soak the gelatine overnight in cold water.

  2. Pour the soaked gelatine into a kettle and cook over low heat until dissolved.

  3. Add the sugar and cook until the mixture reaches 224°F (106.7°C).

  4. Remove from heat and stir in the glucose.

Make the foam

  1. In another kettle, combine the soap bark and water, and bring to a boil.

  2. Strain the mixture into a clean kettle and beat it to a foam.

  3. Transfer the foam to another kettle and beat it again.

  4. Take 1 gallon of the first batch and mix in some of the foam, along with citric acid and flavoring to taste.

Layer and set

  1. Pour the mixture into a paper-lined starch board, about ½ inch thick.

  2. Layer the first batch and the foam mixture alternately until all is used.

  3. Create various colors and flavors as desired.

  4. Stack the filled boards like marshmallows.

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Japanese gelatine
Forms the elastic gel network that gives the marshmallow-like body its structure.
Sugar
Provides sweetness and, when cooked to temperature, the firm syrup base that sets on cooling.
Glucose
Inhibits sugar crystallization, keeping the confection smooth and tender rather than grainy.
Soap bark
Acts as a foaming agent that traps air to create the light, airy texture.

The step that matters

Cooking the sugar to 224°F (106.7°C). Sugar syrup must reach the right concentration to set firm once cooled. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard and brittle.

“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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