Eat Raspberry Rose Ripple Marshmallows

As the Summer has come a close my sweet tooth has suddenly gone into overdrive. Having missed out on my share of ice lollies and creams, my body finally caught onto this fact and I started baking the most sugary treats I could imagine. Marshmallows.

This was the first time I made marshmallows and I was pretty intimidated, which says a lot as my friend said today I am an 'intimidating' woman (in the way that woman who know what they want in life are often described by others as intimidating, not that I bully people into submission..although I may have forced these marshmallows down a few colleagues throats and those of you that have seen them on my instagram account).

However, I did not need to be nervous because look how these beauties turned out! And with no electric whisk I'm pretty well pleased with myself (and my boyfriend's arm power!). Despite not using an electric whisk myself I really would recommend using one for this recipe as whisking for 30 minutes by hand is not constructive to a happy baking day.

This recipe was adapted from the BBC's marshmallow recipe to flavour them with rose water and freeze dried raspberries. Unlike other marshmallow recipes it does not contain any egg whites, which they say gives a lighter fluffier marshmallow; however, I couldn't see a difference between the marshmallows I made without egg whites and the ones you buy at the store. With the exception of the rose and raspberry flavouring of course.

It's been so much fun making new treats that I haven't tried to make before, and I'm excited to try my hand at different marshmallow combinations. Chai marshmallows for your hot cocoa madam? 

Raspberry Rose Ripple Marshmallows
(makes 20-30 large marshmallows)

450g caster sugar
12g powdered gelatin
(*for vegetarian/vegan marshmallows use 12g powdered agar-agar)
275ml water
50g icing sugar
50g corn flour
Vegetable/sunflower oil
40g freeze-dried raspberries
1/2 teaspoon rose water
Dried rose petals to garnish
(I used these ones from the Spice Mountain also located at borough market)

Step 1. In a bowl, set aside 100ml of water and the gelatin* until the water takes on a jelly-like consistency. In a separate bowl, sieve the icing sugar and corn flour together. Grease a 20cm baking tin with half the sunflower/vegetable oil and line the tin with baking paper. Then grease the baking paper with the remaining oil and evenly dust the tin with the corn flour/icing sugar on all sides, keeping some bake to roll the marshmallows in afterwards. You can use any oil to grease the tin but you might want to use sunflower/vegetable oil as it does not have a distinctive flavour that it could impart to your marshmallows.

Step 2. In a saucepan, mix together 20g of the freezedried raspberries with 4-5 tbsps water on a low heat, breaking up the raspberries with a back of a spoon. Simmer on a low heat until the raspberries have broken down completely and the mixture has thickened. You could also use fresh raspberries for this step.

Step 3. In a saucepan on a high heat mix together all of the caster sugar and the remaining water, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until a sugar thermometer when dipped in reaches 113°C. 

Step 4. Once the syrup is at 113°C, start whisking the gelatin mixture until it has a smooth consistency and then slowly pour in the syrup, whisking as you go till the mixture has combined. 

Step 5. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of rose water and whisk until the mixture is thick and glossy, and the mixture has completely cooled (15-20 minutes with an electric whisk 30-35 by hand).

Step 6. Pour half of the marshmallow mixture into the dusted tin and  level it out by tilting the mixture or using a palette knife. Drizzle over the raspberry syrup and swirl it into the marshmallow by running the toothpick through the mix. Then pour on the remaining marshmallow and again smooth it out so the marshmallow is all even. 

Step 7. Dust the top of the marshmallow with a little of the reserved corn flour/icing sugar, cover with cling film and leave for 8 hours in a cool place until set. 

Step 8. Crumble up the remaining freeze-dried raspberries and rose petals. Once the marshmallows are set, turn them out and cut them into 20-30 squares (depending on how hungry you are this could be one marshmallow) and roll them through the crumbled topping of raspberries and roses. Then roll the marshmallows again in the remaining corn flour/icing sugar. 

These marshmallows can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks. But if you leave marshmallows uneaten for that long shame on you.

Remember to work on the ultimate marshmallow principle one for the airtight container, one for you.