Once you’ve tried homemade marshmallows, you’ll never settle for those supermarket bags. These are truly amazing, both to make and to eat. Watching the syrup fluff up is one of those magical-seeming science experiments that make candymaking fun.
Thanks to Cooking for Engineers for the great information on the science and history of marshmallow making, as well as the recipe that inspired this corn-free version.
3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup water, separated
2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup golden syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt
potato starch
Tools needed: stand mixer with paddle attachment and a candy thermometer
Oil a 9 x 13 baking pan and then powder liberally with the potato starch. Pour 1/2 cup of the water and the gelatin into the bowl of your stand mixer. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the remaining 1/4 cup water, the sugar, salt and syrup together in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer. Do not stir once the mixture starts to bubble, or you risk having the syrup crystallize. Wash down any crystals that form on the sides of the pan with a clean pastry brush dipped in cold water.
Once the mixture has reached 250 degrees, remove it from the heat and immediately drizzle it into the gelatin mixture with the mixer running at low speed. Once the syrup has all been poured in, increase the speed to high. (You may need to do this slowly to prevent splatters, or cover the bowl with a tent of plastic wrap.) Beat for 10 minutes on high until white and fluffy.
Pour and/or scrape the fluff into the prepared pan and allow to dry overnight. Turn out onto a board dusted liberally with potato starch and cut into cubes with a pizza cutter. Dredge all sticky sides in the potato starch and store in an airtight container. Marshmallows should keep for several weeks (if they last that long!)
Hi
What is Golden Syrup? I’m really interested in making these since I have very allergic 3 year old twins. Thanks in advance
Jenny
We use Lyle’s Golden Syrup (http://www.lylesgoldensyrup.com/lylesgoldensyrup/default.htm), which can be hard to find in the United States, but is very popular in Brittan. It is a cane sugar syrup, very sticky, that can be used as a substitute for honey, corn syrup, or molasses in recipes. Hopefully, it will work for your twins! My three-year-old and I had a lot of fun making (and toasting and eating) these.
I just checked and it is available on Amazon!
Jeanette
can you use rice syrup?
I haven’t tried it with rice syrup, but I think it would work. Rice syrup behaves somewhat differently when you caramelize it (as in granola bars) than cane sugar, so the end result might be a little softer and require more drying than cane sugar marshmallows. If you try it, please let me know if it works!
Jeanette
I’ve been looking high and low for a recipe such as this!! See, our guy is corn AND rice free!!! Marshmallows that can be purchased contain either corn or rice syrup
But no need to fret now!! We can make our own! Thanks sooo very much! Although, we are in the states and Lyle’s can’t be purchased at my local store…it can be purchased online…such as Amazon grocery! Thanks again from a fun-lovin GFCFSFCFRFEFOF lil boy!
So glad to be of help!
Beware, these are highly addicitve.
Thanks – I’m going to try this with my corn-free, wheat free 5 yr old! She’s so sad that she can’t eat marsh,allows – they all include corn syrup up here.
I didn’t see where I was supposed to put the salt… so I left it out. I used a wire whip instead of the flat beater, and only needed to beat it for 5 minutes. But they were excellent. Now I just need to make it cane sugar-free so that my son can have them too…. I posted a comment (and link to the recipe) on my blog! Thanks for the recipe!
Sorry, editing problem there! I’ve fixed it.
What kind of sweetner can your son have? It might be possible to make them with honey, though the taste would be really different. Would require some experimentation!
Hi, my 2 1/2 year old daughter is allergic to wheat, corn, dairy, and potatoes. She just discovered that she’s missing out on marshmellows.
Do you think that I could us tapioca starch instead of potato starch?
Thanks so much!
The potato starch is basically there just to keep the marshmallows from sticking to each other. So anything along those lines would probably work. Arrowroot powder?? Let me know if it works!
[...] a corn-free marshmallow that you can make at home. (As I sit here writing this, I just saw another blogger’s post for corn-free marshmallows, where the author used Lyle’s Golden Syrup, which is made from cane sugar. I have never heard [...]