I’ve been wanting to try my hand at marshmallow making for the longest time, and finally found just the inspiration I needed when planning a baby shower recently. In keeping with tradition, I made pink strawberry marshmallows because It’s a Girl!
These pastel-coloured little pillows of sweetness topped with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar added just the right touch to the buffet table, and utterly charmed my guests and Momma-to-be.
More than once I heard, “You can make those?”, recalling for me my own revelation that marshmallows don’t just come from the store in a plastic bag, but can be made right in your own kitchen.
The whole process was fun from start to finish. Watching the mixture of gelatin, sugar and strawberry transform from a liquid state to billowing clouds of soft pink was fascinating (I’m easily entertained), and proved that the other major ingredient in marshmallows is air. It did take a little longer than I expected for the marshmallows to cure (dry), which tends to happen with fruit-flavoured mallows, so I’m glad I made them a couple of days ahead of time.
For my recipe, I turned to the book Marshmallow Madness! by Shauna Sever. Yes, an entire cookbook devoted to marshmallowing. And it has a puffy cover — beyond cute! You can find the link to the recipe I used here; the only change I made was to omit the freeze-dried strawberries.
Let’s face it, there’s nothing nutritionally virtuous about marshmallows, but I think we can allow ourselves an unapologetic treat from time to time. At least I know that these strawberry marshmallows were naturally coloured, flavoured and scented with real strawberry puree, made by moi. Combined with their dreamily soft texture, these were — dare I say it — the perfect confection for a baby shower.
Absolutely beautiful Mar. Bravo.
Sometimes we actually need marshmallows. Homemade. Yum!
Indeed! 😊
These look and sound absolutely divine…I’ve never made marshmallows but will be having a bash at them after reading this 🙂
I hope you enjoy marshmallowing, Sherri. It’s a fun but sticky enterprise, but worth it for a special occasion.
They look delicious Marlene!
Thank you, Lorraine, they were!
It’s a baby shower!!! Of course you can have a few treats and totally free of any sort of guilt.
Your little pink pillows look delicious, Mar. I’ve never made marshmallows before but you sure have tempted me. The next time i go visit the youngest among us, maybe I should bring a batch. Competition is stiff and these just might put me in the lead above all of the other aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’ll bring some gum, too, just in case. 🙂
Ha, I hope these marshmallows help pull you into the lead! There’s a chapter in Marshmallow Madness! called “Kid in a Candy Store” so you could probably find some popular recipes in there. And you might want to check out the marshmallows with bacon too, while you’re at it. (I might take a pass on those, lol).
Very different and did not know you could make those also. ….
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