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Dessert

Cheap Marshmallow

A homemade sweet confection made from gelatin, sugar, glucose, water, 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. In a kettle, combine 4 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds of glucose, and 1 quart of water. Cook until the mixture reaches 240°F (115°C).

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

Whip

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

  2. Use a wooden paddle to beat the mixture until it holds its shape like whipped egg whites.

  3. Add vanilla flavoring to taste.

Pour and set

  1. Pour the mixture onto a well-starched slab between iron bars measuring 44x9 inches and spread it evenly.

  2. Dust the top with starch and allow it to set overnight.

  3. Cut into 1-inch strips, roll them in starch, then cut into 1-inch squares and roll in XXXX sugar for storage.

Finish

  1. Place the mixture in a pan over boiling water.

  2. Add ½ glass of water and heat well.

  3. Use a pattie funnel to create impressions.

  4. Sift starch over the top.

  5. Let 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 an elastic network that traps air and holds the whipped mixture's shape while it sets.
Sugar
Provides sweetness and bulk, and its concentration helps the mixture set firm.
Glucose
Inhibits sugar crystallization, keeping the texture smooth and soft rather than grainy.

The step that matters

Cook the syrup to 240°F (115°C). The syrup's final temperature sets how much water remains and so how firm the finished mixture becomes. Undercooking leaves it too soft to hold its shape, while overcooking makes it tough and hard.

“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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