Marshmallows spring forth with various stylish flavors

By Stephanie Shapiro | Sun reporter

March 19, 2008

Marshmallows made by Rachel Rappaport, a Lauraville resident who writes a cooking blog, are flavored with green tea and vanilla. (Sun photo by Barbara Haddock Taylor / February 22, 2008)

Whipped into existence from air and sugar, the marshmallow is a fairy-tale food that home cooks rarely attempt. And yet, Rachel Rappaport says, the confection "is the most magical thing you can make in the kitchen. From molten sugar to suddenly, it's just marshmallow!"

As the Lauraville resident with a widely read cooking blog called Coconut & Lime has discovered, marshmallows are also much simpler to make than their playfully spongy texture and commercially extruded pellet shape suggest.

The old-fashioned confection also holds up to a surprising array of stylish flavors and uses, placing it beside cupcakes in the pantheon of nostalgic foods reinvented for artisanal tastes.

"Marshmallows take us back to our childhood," says Eileen Talanian, author of the new book Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats. "So here's a way to have them, but also have them in adult form," says the author, referring to recipes for marshmallows flavored with fresh lemon, cardamom, raspberry puree, champagne and other sophisticated ingredients.

Easter, which arrives on Sunday, marks peak marshmallow season, when millions of Just Born Peeps chicks and Kraft BunnyMallows nestle into cellophane grass in anticipation of spring. For those who prefer marshmallows with a European provenance, there are pink and yellow Williams-Sonoma Marshmallow Ducklings from Spain.

More than a dozen domestic mail-order companies specializing in hand-cut marshmallows feature their own seasonal, yet less traditional, offerings. "We've got really fun fruit flavors that come out for Easter," says Ann Hickey, owner of Plush Puffs, an all-natural marshmallow concern in Sherman Oaks, Calif. "Key Lime Sublime, Luscious Lemony Meringue and our RazzVeryBerry - those are great flavors for Easter."

Easter "is a big season," says Suzanne Lombardi, co-owner of Tiny Trapeze Confections, a Boston-based company that makes all-natural marshmallows for Whole Foods. For the spring holiday, Lombardi's company produces a Clearly Coconut marshmallow, flavored with coconut and rolled in organic, toasted coconut, as well as six-packets of pastel-hued Hippity Hop Mallows dipped in milk chocolate. Tiny Trapeze's specialty products aren't distributed in Maryland, although its Whole Foods-branded marshmallows are sold locally.

Even when made with brown-rice syrup and organic cane sugar, marshmallows are not a health food, unless you can ascribe nutritional value to fun. "They're soft, squishy, they're sort of messy; the cornstarch-and-powdered-sugar coating falls on your clothes a little bit," Lombardi says. "It's fun to get messy and enjoy your food like that."

Once a sore-throat remedy derived from the sap of the marsh mallow plant, the confection has been made instead with gelatin since the mid-19th century. With the advent of the extruding machine in the mid-20th century, marshmallows became a popular novelty food that found its way into untold Jell-O salads, campfire feasts and Rice Krispie treats.

As both a staple of American foodways kitsch and a hip nibble for cool kids, marshmallows have steadily gained in popularity. Sales of regular-size marshmallows produced by Kraft, Campfire and other brands edged toward $140 million for the year ending Jan. 26 in all outlets excluding Wal-Mart, according to the Nielsen Co. This marks a 10 percent increase from the previous year.

Flavored marshmallows comprise only about 9 percent of those sales. And yet, within the realm of boutique confections, fanciful marshmallow flavors such as cinnamon, peppermint and Kona coffee have increasingly captured the attention of consumers in search of edible curios.

Sales of Plush Puffs continue to multiply, Hickey says. Since her company was founded in 2005, she estimates that it has produced 7 tons of marshmallows.

"We haven't seen this trend die down," says Lombardi of Tiny Trapeze. "On an average day, we're probably making about 400 pounds."

Campfire, Kraft and other brands are heeding the current captivation with flavors, even if sales don't compare to the market for plain vanilla marshmallows. "Recent successful product launches of Kraft Jet-Puffed StrawberryMallows and ChocoMallows in 2007 have tapped into this growing trend," says Daisie Siska, brand manager for Jet-Puffed Marshmallows at Kraft Foods. In an e-mail message, she says that Kraft also introduced a variety pack of flavors last August inspired by the trinity of Neapolitan ice cream flavors: strawberry, chocolate and vanilla.

Just Born launched flavored Easter Peeps products in the mid-1990s, says spokeswoman Ellie Deardorff. For Easter, egg-shaped Peeps come in strawberry, orange and vanilla cream flavors.

With a heavy-duty mixer, though, making the candy in dozens of flavors at home is a breeze. Before she first prepared them, "It never occurred to me you can make marshmallows," Rappaport says.

She quickly conquered the mystery and shared original recipes for peppermint, cocoa-dusted and green-tea-flavored marshmallows with readers, prompting comments such as this from an Iowa resident: "Homemade marshmallows have changed my life this year [and probably my waistline] ... how did I ever live without them?"

On a recent morning in Rappaport's cerulean kitchen, it took 20 minutes to produce a batch of pale-green marshmallows from her original recipe.

As the gelatin bloomed in a bowl of water, Rappaport brought sugar, corn syrup and water to a vigorous boil for one minute. Then, as her matching cerulean KitchenAid mixer whipped together the hot syrup, a pinch of salt, matcha (powdered green tea) and gelatin for a total of 12 minutes, the sugary mixture turned into a frothy mound of delectability.

After allowing the pan of marshmallow to cure for three hours, Rappaport cut the batch into billowy cubes, and rolled them in powdered sugar and more matcha before storing in an airtight container.

Consumed plain, the marshmallows are a pleasing trifle. But melt matcha marshmallows and "really dark chocolate" on a graham cracker for an indulgent s'more, as Rappaport recommends, and you attain a gooey state of nirvana.

Homemade marshmallows also make a fine substitute for frosting, meringue, custard, whipped cream and other sweet finishes for cakes, pies and tarts. Subtract the gelatin found in nearly all marshmallow recipes, add egg whites, and you'll have fluff, an equally versatile substance for desserts and other preparations. In her cookbook, Talanian includes recipes for a bevy of fluffs, including varieties suffused with chocolate, cherry, espresso and orange flower water.

"Almost any place where you could use whipped cream, you can use marshmallow fluff," Talanian says. "You can decorate a cake with it, or fill cakes with it. Use it to top puddings. And it browns really nicely [with a chef's torch]."

Another possibility from Talanian: "Serve raspberry marshmallows simply with melted ganache to dip them in, or drizzle chocolate sauce over them for a really easy dessert - the chocolate is so dense and the marshmallow so light and the contrast in your mouth is just exquisite."

Honey-Star Anise Fluff

Makes 4 cups

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup Marshmallow Syrup (see recipe)

1 cup granulated cane sugar

3 whole star anise

5 large egg whites at room temperature, or equivalent reconstituted dried egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

Place the water, honey, syrup, cane sugar and star anise into a heavy 4-quart saucepan set over medium-high heat, and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, place a cover on it and let the star anise steep for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid, remove the star anise and bring the mixture to a boil again over medium-high heat. Cover the pan and boil for 2 minutes. Then remove the lid, insert a candy thermometer and cook the mixture to 250 degrees. Do not stir the mixture once the lid has been removed.

Once the mixture reaches 240 degrees, beat the egg whites and salt with a stand mixer set at medium speed until the whites are thick, fluffy and opaque.

When the hot mixture is ready, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool for 3 or 4 minutes. Slowly stream it into the beaten egg whites and increase the speed to high. Continue beating for 8 minutes. Store the fluff for up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

-- From "Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats," by Eileen Talanian

Per tablespoon: 28 calories, 0 grams protein, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 7 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 9 milligrams sodium

Marshmallow Syrup

Makes 1 quart

2 cups water

5 1/3 cups granulated cane sugar

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

pinch of salt

Place the ingredients in a heavy 4-quart pan, stirring gently with a heatproof spatula until the sugar is moistened. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and cover the pan for 2 minutes to allow steam to wash any sugar crystals from the sides of the pan.

Then uncover the pan, insert a candy thermometer and increase the heat to high. Do not stir it at all once you have removed the lid or the syrup will crystallize as it cools. Continue cooking until it reaches 240 degrees. Remove from the heat and let the syrup cool for 15 minutes. Ladle it into clean jars and attach the lids.

Store at room temperature for up to 2 months. The syrup will be very thick once it cools. To use it, microwave for 2 minutes on high power, or place the jar in a pan of hot water over low heat until it can be poured easily. Do not stir the syrup.

-- From "Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats," by Eileen Talanian

Per tablespoon: 60 calories, 0 grams protein, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 16 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 2 milligrams sodium

Matcha Marshmallows

Makes about 40 marshmallows

1/2 ounce unflavored powdered gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon matcha (green tea) powder

confectioners' sugar for dredging

In a large bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Allow to steep for 10 minutes. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a vigorous boil and boil for 1 minute. Pour boiling syrup into gelatin and mix at high speed for 1 minute. Add the salt and matcha and beat for 12 minutes.

Oil your hands and a spatula and scrape mixture into a 9-by-13-inch pan lined with oiled plastic wrap or sprayed with cooking spray and spread evenly. After pouring marshmallow mixture into the pan, take another piece of oiled plastic wrap and press firmly on the top, oil side down, to smooth the marshmallow.

Allow to rest 3 hours. Invert the pan into a plate full of confectioners' sugar and dredge the marshmallow through. Remove and cut into pieces with kitchen shears or a knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners' sugar. Store in an airtight container.

Note: You can make vanilla-bean marshmallows by substituting 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla paste for the matcha powder. Matcha is readily available from many online merchants and grocery stores.

-- Courtesy of Rachel Rappaport, from her blog Coconut & Lime, coconutandlime.com

Per marshmallow: 55 calories, trace protein, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 14 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 19 milligrams sodium

Lemon Fluff

Makes about 1 quart

1/3 cup water

2/3 cup marshmallow syrup (see recipe)

2/3 cup granulated cane sugar

3 large egg whites, at room temperature or equivalent reconstituted dried egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup strained fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup finely minced freshly grated lemon zest

Place the water, marshmallow syrup and cane sugar in a heavy 2-quart saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover and boil for 2 minutes, then remove the lid, insert a candy thermometer and turn up the heat to medium-high. Do not stir the mixture once the lid has been removed. Boil mixture until it reaches 250 degrees. Meanwhile, place the egg whites and salt in a mixer bowl and beat on medium- high until they are thick, fluffy and opaque.

When the temperature of the boiling mixture reaches 250 degrees, turn off the heat, remove the thermometer and let the mixture cool for 3 or 4 minutes. Slowly stream it down the side of the mixer bowl into the beating egg whites, with the mixer on medium-high speed.

Then turn up the mixer to high and beat for 7 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the lemon juice a tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition until the juice is blended in. Increase the speed to high and beat for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the zest with a rubber spatula. Transfer the fluff to a covered container and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

-- From "Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats," by Eileen Talanian

Per tablespoon: 19 calories, 0 grams protein, 0 grams fat, 0 grams saturated fat, 5 grams carbohydrate, 0 grams fiber, 0 milligrams cholesterol, 8 milligrams sodium

Search for recipes from The Sun's Taste section