To celebrate the release of my second eBook, Cosy Winter Bakes, I decided to share another seasonal Winter recipe that I love to make.

I think I have mentioned before that I have always loved marshmallows. So many flavour combinations are possible. And when our bergamot tree is fruiting I am always trying to think of something different to make with them. I love making the same cakes and biscuits with our bergamot each year as I look forward to their season so much, however this year after making the Bergamot Loukoumia from Georgina Hayden’s book Taverna, I thought I would have another go at using bergamot in confectionary.

I was pleasantly surprised that the bergamot flavour in the marshmallows worked, for some reason I wasn’t 100% sure it would. The flavour actually gets better a couple of days after the marshmallows have been made and cut.

These marshmallows are super fluffy, and end up being very white in colour as bergamot juice does not have a really strong colour and all homemade marshmallows turn quite opaque as they are whipping anyway. You could add some yellow or green food colouring as the marshmallow is whipping, but I personally prefer to avoid using artificial colours as much as possible in my baking.

I took a few of these, along with some of the passionfruit marshmallows that are in my eBook, to work and I was quite surprised that my colleagues tried the bergamot ones and liked them. Bergamot is quite an unknown citrus, but that didn’t stop everyone trying them! I was super happy about this as not only is bergamot such a delicious flavour if you are willing to give it a go, but each marshmallow recipe makes quite a few marshmallows and with two batches at home I really needed to give some away!

Also, if anyone knows were to easily buy beef gelatin in Sydney (or online), please let me know! These marshmallows are not suitable for anyone who keeps kosher or halal and I would love to make sure they are in future!

For more seasonal cakes, confectionary and cookies check out my new eBook Cosy Winter Bakes!

BUY EBOOK!

Bergamot Marshmallows (Gluten + Dairy + Egg Free)

Ingredients:

275g fresh bergamot juice

50g gelatine powder

115ml water

820g white/granulated sugar

320g glucose

50g potato flour/starch

50g icing sugar (pure or confectioners)

cooking spray

Method:

Spray a slice tin or lamington tray (at least 30x20cm) with the cooking spray and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, briefly mix together the bergamot juice and the gelatine powder. Leave for now, ensuring the whisk attachment is fitted and everything is ready to go once your sugar syrup is ready.

In a medium/large saucepan place the water, then the sugar, then the glucose. Place over high heat and cook until the syrup reaches 120 degrees Celsius on a candy thermometer.

With the mixer on low, gradually pour the sugar syrup into the bergamot mix. Whisk on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture turns a more opaque colour. The mixture will also start to thicken. Then increase mixer to high speed for about 8 minutes, until the marshmallow has tripled in volume and has thickened.

Pour marshmallow into the prepared tray, tapping it down on the bench to remove any air bubbles and to ensure it is sitting in the tray evenly.

Leave to set overnight before cutting (room temperature is best, preferably covered with a food net or cover).

Once the marshmallow is ready to cut, in a small bowl whisk together the potato flour and the icing sugar (sift if necessary).

Dust some of this mixture onto your clean work surface. Remove the slab of marshmallow from the tin, use a spatula to pull the sides away from the tin and tip it onto the dusted work surface.

Dust more of the icing sugar mix over the top of the marshmallow slab, and around the sides. Using a large sharp knife, cut into cubes, by cutting the slab into rows, then cutting rows in the other direction. Dust your knife regularly with the icing sugar mix, and continue to dust the marshmallows as they are cut.

Ensure every part of the cut marshmallows are covered in the potato flour and icing sugar mix. Toss them around on the bench to remove any excess.

Store in an airtight container. The marshmallows will keep for about 3 weeks.

Reference: Heilala Vanilla Sweetness Vanilla Bean Mallow

I have always loved marshmallows. I would eat them by the bowlful as a kid, much to my Mum’s dismay. I’d often melt them in the microwave, add Rice Bubbles, and eat them like a massive LCM (or rice crispy treat), but with much more marshmallow!

Then while I was at uni, a friend introduced me to Sweetness the Patisserie in Sydney, who make their own marshmallows, known as Sweet Mallows. They are made with natural flavours, and come in an amazing variety of flavour combinations. These homemade, (much) more natural versions of the marshmallows you buy in the lolly isle at the supermarket, make you never ever want to eat the supermarket variety again.

I then stumbled across the below recipe in the recipe book from the Parisian confectioners, À La Mère de Famille (check out this post for more on the Parisian confectioners). Its not an overly complicated recipe, you just need to be organised, work quickly and have a sugar thermometer. So once I bought a sugar thermometer, there was nothing stopping me finally making marshmallows for myself!

The flavour combinations are really quite endless, and I think they make cute gifts (cue impending holiday season!). The flavour of the marshmallows develops a lot after a day or so, so I would recommend making them a day or two in advance before giving them as gifts. They also require tossing in the icing sugar and potato flour mix more than once over the first couple of days, particularly in humid conditions. They will otherwise absorb the first lot of icing sugar and potato flour quite quickly and become wet and sticky. And let’s face it, its always handy when you are making gifts, or just cooking generally, to have things that can be prepared in advance!

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients for Raspberry Marshmallows:

15g gelatine sheets

100g raspberry pulp

20g water

50g mild honey

240g sugar

100g egg whites

1 tsp freeze dried raspberry powder, sifted, optional

75g icing sugar

75g potato flour/starch

Ingredients for Passionfruit Marshmallows:

15g gelatine sheets

70g strained passionfruit pulp

40g water

50g mild honey

240g sugar

100g egg whites

1 tsp freeze dried passionfruit powder, optional

75g icing sugar

75g potato flour/starch

Method:

Place the gelatine in bowl of cold water, and leave to soak for 5 minutes. Then drain and set aside.

Place the egg whites in a bowl, and have everything ready to whip them once the sugar syrup starts to heat up (see following step).

In a large saucepan heat, the raspberry pulp or passionfruit pulp, water, honey and sugar until it reaches 114 degrees Celsius on a sugar thermometer. The sugar syrup will start rapidly boiling and increase in size, so make sure you use a large enough saucepan. This shouldn’t take too long, so once the mixture starts to increase in temperature, start whipping the egg whites on a low/medium speed.

Once the sugar mixture has reached 114 degrees Celsius, and the egg whites are whipped to stiff peaks, gently fold the sugar mixture and gelatine in to the egg whites.

Increase the speed of the mixer (medium to high speed), and allow the marshmallow to thicken and cool. This will take a few minutes. Add the freeze dried raspberry powder or passionfruit powder, if using, and continue to whip the marshmallow until it has cooled to at least 40 degrees Celsius. Whilst the marshmallow is thickening and cooling, lay a sheet of baking paper on a clean dry surface and generously dust with combination of the icing sugar and potato flour.

Once the marshmallow has thickened and cooled, pour it onto the prepared surface and spread into a rectangular shape, about 1.5-2cm in thickness. Dust with more icing sugar and potato flour, and leave to set.

I found it didn’t take very long for the marshmallow to set, but leave it about 30 mins to be sure - it will be set when it bounces back when pressed and the outside area dusted with the icing sugar and potato flour is no longer sticky. You may need to dust the marshmallow more than once depending on the humidity.

Once the marshmallow has set, cut into cubes, and toss cut marshmallows in a bowl filled with icing sugar and potato flour. Cut cubes of marshmallow may need dusting a couple more times as the first lot tends to be absorbed after a few hours (particularly in humid conditions). Keep a bowl or container of the icing sugar and potato flour handy so the marshmallows can be re-dusted if needed.