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Dessert

Cheap Marshmallow

A homemade marshmallow made from gelatin, sugar, glucose, and vanilla, set on a slab and cut into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Gelatin and sugar 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 ↓

Cheap Marshmallow

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the syrup

  1. Dissolve the gelatin in 1 quart of water and set aside.

  2. Combine 4 lbs of sugar, 2 lbs of glucose, and 1 quart of water in a kettle.

  3. Cook the mixture until it reaches 240°F (115°C).

  4. Remove the kettle from heat and add the dissolved gelatin and 1 quart of water to the sugar mixture.

Whip and set

  1. Beat the mixture with an egg whisk until it is quite stiff.

  2. Beat the mixture with a wooden paddle until it holds its shape like whipped egg whites.

  3. Add vanilla flavoring to taste.

  4. Pour the mixture onto a well-starched slab between iron bars measuring 44x9 inches. Spread the mixture evenly.

  5. Dust the top with starch.

  6. Allow the mixture to set overnight.

Cut and coat

  1. Cut the set mixture into 1-inch strips.

  2. Roll the strips in starch.

  3. Cut the rolled strips into 1-inch squares.

  4. Roll the squares in XXXX sugar for storage.

Optional reworking

  1. If desired, place the mixture in a pan over boiling water. Add ½ cup of water. Heat well.

  2. Use a pastry funnel to form shapes.

  3. Sift starch over the top.

  4. Allow the mixture to set for 24 hours before lifting.

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

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. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Gelatin + vanillatop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together924 recipes

    Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Forms the elastic network that gives the marshmallow its set and springy structure.
Sugar
Provides sweetness and the bulk of the mixture, and sets firmness as the syrup cooks.
Glucose
Slows sugar crystallization, keeping the texture smooth and soft rather than grainy.

The step that matters

Cooking the sugar syrup to 240°F (115°C). The final temperature sets how much water remains in the syrup. Stopping short leaves the marshmallow soft and weepy, while overcooking makes it firm and hard once it cools.

“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.

More marshmallow recipes

Cake 54Pudding 37Icing 33Cream 29Filling 29Frosting 23 See all 8 →

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