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Dessert

Chocolate Harshmallows

Chocolate Harshmallows are sweet confections made from gum arabic, sugar, chocolate, and vanilla, set into a firm gel.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Chocolate Harshmallows

Ingredients

Directions

Dissolve the gum

  1. Combine gum arabic and cold water in a bowl. Cover and let it sit for 1 hour.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a double boiler and heat slowly until the gum is dissolved.

  3. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth, then return it to the double boiler.

Make the marshmallow

  1. Add powdered sugar and grated chocolate.

  2. Stir over heat for about 45 minutes until stiff.

  3. Remove from heat.

  4. Beat rapidly for 2 minutes.

  5. Stir in vanilla.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into a pan dusted with cornstarch.

  2. Let it cool.

  3. Cut into squares.

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. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

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

  3. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, 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

White gum arabic
Acts as the binding agent that gives the marshmallow its elastic, foamy structure.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the mixture set into a firm, sliceable body.
Grated chocolate
Provides chocolate flavor and color throughout the marshmallow.

The step that matters

Dissolving the gum fully before straining. Gum arabic that is not fully dissolved leaves lumps and weak binding, so the marshmallow may not set evenly. Heating slowly in a double boiler avoids scorching while the gum hydrates.

“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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