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Marshmallow mondays
Join us this fall for fun marshmallow recipes!
I'm fairly certain marshmallows are made of magic. Somewhere, there's a Keebleresque Elf Army cranking out millions of magical mouth watering mystical marshmallows...
To say that I love marshmallows would be an extreme understatement. During the winter of 2015 I developed a craving for Marshmallow Fluff in my coffee every morning. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I could make a healthy version of store bought marshmallows! These are Paleo Marshmallows which call for grass fed collagen, organic marshmallow root and raw local honey!
WHAT ARE MARSHMALLOWS?
Marshmallows are considered to be a foam, scientifically speaking.
More precisely, it is a foam with air bubbles, stabilized by sugars and proteins (egg & gelatin). The sugar & protein mix is strong enough to keep the bubbles apart and prevent the air from escaping, but soft enough to create that gooey marshmallow texture.
- A sugar syrup is made by boiling water & sugar
- Egg whites are whipped up with a little sugar to make a foam
- The sugar syrup is poured onto the egg foam
- Dissolved gelatin is added at the end
- The sugar syrup in marshmallow
Marshmallows contain quite a bit of sugar (just have a look on your marshmallow pack). The sugar is essential for creating structure in marshmallow. Without it, the marshmallow wouldn’t be stable (nor would it taste like anything).
Sugar in a marshmallow is added in the form of a syrup, a mix of water and sugar. This syrup is slightly thicker than normal water, making it less runny. This makes it a little harder for air bubbles to travel through the syrup (and thus leave the marshmallow). In a lot of other foams this characteristic of sugar is used, for instance in Italian meringue or a crispy baked meringue. (Marshmallow science, via foodcrumbles)
image via Pinterest
GUT HEALTH AND MARSHMALLOW ROOT
Before we knew the exact science of what makes a marshmallow a marshmallow, the Egyptians were using the marshmallow root for all sorts of healing purposes.
Today, one useful herbal remedy that calls for marshmallow root is for gut healing.
With that said, I looked around for a variety of homemade marshmallow recipes and most of them didn't even include actual marshmallow root in the recipe!
Well, that's odd, I thought. And I'm still scratching my head about that one. Because marshmallow root is the very thing that helps with both gut health and Interstitial Cystitis!
INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS & MARSHMALLOW ROOT
Interstitial Cystitis is different from a UTI in that a UTI is caused by bacterial infection, whereas IC is not caused by bacteria. IC is incurable and it is unknown what causes it at the present time. It is thought to be an autoimmune disease by some medical professionals.
Althaea officinalis (marsh-mallow, marsh mallow or common marshmallow) is a perennial species indigenous to Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, which is used as a medicinal plant and ornamental plant.
A confection made from the root since ancient Egyptian time evolved into today's marshmallow treat. (Wikipedia)
However, once you make homemade marshmallows, you'll never buy those jet puffed ones from the grocery store ever again. Firstly, you should know that the first two ingredients in store bought marshmallows are corn syrup and sugar. Hardly organic and hardly healthy, today's marshmallows are nothing more than sugar and more sugar blended with water and sugar. Did I mention the corn syrup? (Check out Dr. Josh Axe's article to learn why you should avoid corn syrup like the plague.)
Also, keep in mind that corn, unless it's certified organic, is a GMO which means it's doused with Glyphosate, which has questionable safety.
Homemade Marshmallow Root Marshmallow Recipe
- 1 tbsp of organic marshmallow root.
- 3 tbsp Great Lakes Collagen
- 1 cup water - divided
- 1 cup raw local honey
- 1/2 teaspoon of Madagascar bourbon vanilla extract
Directions:
- Pour ½ cup of water into a metal bowl or mixer bowl and add collagen. Whisk slightly to incorporate and let sit.
- Pour the other ½ cup of water and 1 cup of honey into the small saucepan.
- Slowly bring the water and honey mixture to a boil. If you have a kitchen thermometer, you want it to reach at least 240 degrees. If not, just keep boiling, stirring constantly for 8 minutes.
- Slowly start pouring the honey/water mixture into the bowl with the gelatin mix (which will be hardened by now).
- Turn on the mixer or hand mixer and keep on medium as the honey mixture is added.
- When honey mix is added, turn the mixer to high and blend with the mixer for another 10-15 minutes or until it forms a stiff cream the consistency of marshmallow cream (it should form gentle peaks).
- Add any flavor ingredients for the last 2 minutes of mixing (except cocoa powder which can be added to the honey mix in the saucepan).
- Grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with coconut oil, or line with parchment paper, leaving some on the sides to be able to pull up.
- When marshmallows are whipped, pour into the lined/greased dish and smooth evenly.
- Let sit at least 4 hours (overnight is better).
- Flip onto a cutting board and cut with a well oiled pizza cutter or knife.
- Store in an airtight container. Do NOT store in the fridge as they will melt. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
WHICH SWEETENER SHOULD I USE TO MAKE HOMEMADE ORGANIC PALEO MARSHMALLOWS?
I love honey, so that's what I use. It's mostly glucose.
- RAW LOCAL HONEY
- ORGANIC COCONUT SUGAR
- ORGANIC CANE SUGAR
