Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Vegan Marshmallow Recipe

In early 2009, I set out to create an "open source" vegan marshmallow recipe. Vegan marshmallows have eluded the public sphere for many moons. There are a few vegan marshmallow recipes floating around the internet but, at the time of writing this, most were total flops.

The marshmallows in this recipe are firm to the touch. They roast great. They melt under heat. They even puff when they catch fire.

I present the first free, open-source vegan marshmallow recipe that:

1. Works.
2. Will now and forever be open source. That means if you try it and have an improvement or a new recipe, post a comment or send an email and I will post new discoveries.
3. Has many thanks to those who helped contribute thoughts, ideas and other comments along the way, including: Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast Open Cooking Forum, the Post Punk Kitchen Forum, and countless internet sites dedicated to hydrocolloids, molecular gastronomy and plain old vegan goodness.

I am not a professional chef nor an expert. I'm just a vegan who loves to cook and research new ways of cooking. I also don't like driving multiple hours for a marshmallow. They can be expensive and hard-to-find locally. This recipe is excellent. My wife called it, "perfect."

I will, however, give credit where credit is due. The commercially available marshmallows are wonderful and are worth the effort to find them or order them. They are:

Also, Everyday Dish TV has launched their subscription service! They have been working for months on perfecting a marshmallow recipe and marshmallow meringue. I highly recommend getting a subscription. The pictures alone will make you want to eat your flatscreen. They take vegan marshmallows into the stratosphere of culinary delights.

That said, below is the recipe. I will deconstruct it in other posts for those who wish to experiment.

Marshmallows are basically a stiff fluff with cooked sugar whipped in.


Pan
Use a small 8x8 baking pan for amazingly thick marshmallows or 8x12 for a more manageable, bite-sized marshmallow. Mix 2T of vegan powdered sugar and 2T of cornstarch together. Spray your pan with oil and dust with the sugar/cornstarch mixture. Set aside.

Fluff
The fluff part of this recipe was inspired by Jeanette Sutton's web site recipe for agar marshmallows at meatandeggfree.com. She deserves a tremendous amount of credit for her work on fluff, a key to marshmallow success. If you are looking for an agar marshmallow, try Jeanette's recipe.

5T soy protein isolate 90% (available at many health food stores)
2t Baking Powder
3/4C cold water

Sugar Syrup
1.5C raw sugar
1C light corn syrup
1/2C water
1T Genutine Vegetarian Gelatin
2t vanilla extract

Genutine is a commercial product (click here to order) made primarily of carrageenan with locust bean gum and sucrose, according to their web site. It has no animal products in it. Not even close.

To make the fluff, mix the dry ingredients together first in a stand mixer. Add the water and whip with a whisk for 10 minutes until you get stiff peaks and an increase in volume. The volume will not increase dramatically and fill the bowl as you might see when using the Angel Food Marshmallow Mix. However, you will see some increase and you should get stiff peaks.

To make the sugar syrup, mix the Genutine with the raw sugar in a saucepan. Then add the water and whisk quickly. You should have a thick mixture. Add the corn syrup. Stir and heat on the stove. Use a candy thermometer and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 230 degrees. By this time, it should be thick and gloppy. The mixture will begin to gel as one large mass and you will be able to catch sight of the bottom of your pan as you stir. Hurry up and stop cooking! Stir in the vanilla.

WARNING! This is extremely messy, gooey and sticky. If you have a splatter shield for your mixer, go get it! Otherwise, you will likely need a hand-held steam cleaner to clean your mixer when you are done. I speak from experience. DOH!

Turn the stand mixer on high and whisk the fluff as you quickly add the sugar syrup. DO NOT ADD THE SYRUP SLOWLY! The sugar gel is so sticky, it can climb up your whisk attachment and begin to gum up its connection to the mixer. Just dump it in with the mixer running as fast as it will go. Let whip for 10 minutes. Use a rubber scraper and pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Cover with a sheet of wax paper and push down the mix so it gets into the sides of the pan. Remove the wax paper and let cool in the fridge for at least an hour.

When cool, turn out on a cutting board. Cut squares in the size you like and coat all sides with more of your corn starch/powdered sugar mix.

Yields 30-35 marshmallows.

Get your camera. Find a pretty plate. Put your marshmallows on it. Take a picture. Post it on a blog somewhere. Then apologize to your spouse for the colossal mess you made.

Shelf life? As a vegan who has not had marshmallows in a very, very long time, the shelf life is about 24 hours before you eat all of them from off the shelf. I do not know how long they will last if you do not eat them. Perhaps someone can post a comment.

Mini Marshmallows
If you want mini marshmallows, after mixing, immediately put the mixture in a piping bag and pipe out your mini marshmallows in the size and shape of your choice.

Happy cooking!

Vegan Marshmallows Pictures


Click on any picture to enlarge.

Dry ingredients of the fluff.


Fluff mix with water before whipping.


Fluff mix with water after whipping.


Sugar syrup mix cooking on stove.


Final product just before putting it in the pan.

Genutine wins!

I recently got some pure carrageenan to see if I could recreate Genutine with other gums. My best effort produced marshmallow fluff. It seems locust bean gum is essential. Locust bean gum is also very difficult to find and expensive too. L'Epicerie carries it.

Bottom line, get the Genutine. Save some money. Save the hassle. Make marshmallows with Genutine.

No, I'm not on their payroll. :-)

Vegan S'mores

S'mores and vegans don't usually mix well together.  The well-meaning, non-vegan camper will bring graham crackers with honey, marshmallows with gelatin and milk chocolate.  No longer!  Vegan S'mores are possible once again.  Just follow the links.  You know what to do after that.

Dark Chocolate (this one most vegans have figured out)

If you make vegan s'mores, send me a picture and I'll post it!


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Vegan Marshmallow FAQs

Will they roast over a campfire?
Yes.  They brown, they melt, they even fluff if you burn them.  You won't be able to tell the difference in the campfire.

How do they freeze?  I'm thinking of making Rocky Road ice cream.
They freeze great.  You will not detect any difference in the texture of the marshmallow when it is frozen.  It will simply be colder.  They do not harden if frozen.

Can I make marshmallow fluff with a version of this recipe?
Absolutely.

Seriously, what do I need to do to make marshmallow fluff?
I have no idea.  I haven't tried yet.  Hopefully, I will have a recipe soon! ;-)  My best guess is to add more water to the sugar syrup and/or cook the sugar syrup less.  I would start by using 1 cup of water in the sugar syrup rather than 1/2 cup.  I would also cook it to probably 220 degrees, not 230.  

Can I use vital wheat gluten instead of soy protein isolate?
I attempted to make the fluff part of the recipe with vital wheat gluten.  The result was about 75% as firm as using soy protein isolate.  My best guess is that it would produce a marshmallow somewhere between marshmallow fluff and a firm marshmallow.  I wouldn't recommend using gluten as your protein source, but if you're jonesing for a marshmallow and that's all you got, go for it! 

How did you develop this recipe?
A ton of trial and error.  I also did extensive research on molecular gastronomy, hydrocolloids, and gelatin-based marshmallows.  I documented most of my process primarily at Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast Open Cooking Forum and the Post Punk Kitchen Forum.  I also participated in other molecular gastronomy forums.  Many thanks to all of them and to the dozens of kind vegans and molecular gastronomy experts who offered their ideas and support.

Why is it open-source?
My hope is that others will contribute their ideas on how to make basic marshmallow recipe even better.  

You have a copyright on your variations of the basic recipe.  Why?
I wanted all vegans to have access to a basic marshmallow recipe that works.  Someone needed to establish the science of making a vegan marshmallow for all to see.  Variations beyond that come from my ideas and creativity.  That's the art of cooking that I believe is my own.  Do I smell a cookbook in the works?  You never know...  

Where Can I Buy These Ingredients?

First, call your local co-op or health foods store.  They will likely have a some of them and maybe all of them.  Here are some of the places where you can purchase these ingredients online.   

Soy Protein Isolate
This is a common product at health food stores, co-ops and also bodybuilding health and vitamin stores.  The key is to check the ingredients.  You want Soy Protein Isolate 90% or as close to 90% as you can get.  90% seems to be the standard to be called soy protein isolate.  Don't buy soy shake mixes.  You want the pure stuff.

Genutine
This is a custom product that is only available from 

One pound of Genutine will make 32 batches of marshmallows!  Woo hoo!  It works great but if you want to try and recreate it yourself, it will be much more expensive.  If you want to give it a shot, here is my best guess at the Genutine mix.

Guar Gum

Locust Bean Gum

Xanthan Gum

Acacia Gum, also called Arabic Gum or Gum Arabica

Carrageenan (Kappa, not Iota) 
Kappa is used for stronger gels.  Iota is used for softer gels.  You want Kappa.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Vegan Mocha Marshmallows

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the plain old white vegan marshmallow...

MOCHA MARSHMALLOWS!
That's right.  Let's take marshmallows to a whole new realm of vegan deliciousness.  How is it done?

In the fluff part of the recipe, replace the 3/4 cup of cold water with, oh yeah!  3/4 cup of cold espresso.

Also, after you spray your pan with oil, dust with 2T of powdered sugar mixed with 2T of cocoa powder.  If you're really an addict, eliminate the sugar and dust with pure cocoa powder.

Garnish the top with chocolate covered espresso beans.

©Dave Soleil 2009

Vegan Marshmallows in the U.K.

Great information from a vegan in the U.K!

For everyone in the UK: Holland and Barrett sells 90% soy protein isolate in big containers in the weight gain supplement section; just make sure you don't get the flavoured stuff with added egg white. The "vegetarian gelatine" I saw sounds like the supercook brand stuff described in this thread, but I think they may have recently changed their brand name to Dr Oetker, since that's what it said on the box I spotted in Morrison's.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Margarita Marshmallows

Is it true?  You bet your Cinco de Mayo it is!!!  

Start with the basic vegan marshmallow recipe.

Pan
In a blender or food processor, blend until fine: 
4T of cornstarch
Zest of 2 limes

Dust your pan with this sugar mix.

Fluff
Replace the 3/4C of cold water with 1/2 cup of cold water and 1/4 cup of lime juice or roughly the juice of the 2 limes that you zested.

Sugar Syrup
Cook sugar syrup as directed by the recipe.  Eliminate the vanilla.  When the mix is finished cooking, pour 2t of tequila into the sugar syrup and stir.

Add your sugar syrup to the fluff as directed.  After 8 minutes of whipping, add 1/4C of tequila to the mix as it whips. 

For some extra color, add a few drops of green food coloring to get a lime green colored marshmallow.

Que Bueno!  

©Dave Soleil 2009

Vegan Ambrosia Salad

Yes, it is possible once again...

1 can mandarin oranges (11 oz.)
1 can crushed pineapple, drained (8 oz.)
2 bananas, sliced
1 cup grapes, halved
1 cup flaked coconut
2 cups vegan marshmallows, cut into mini-size pieces
1 cup pecan pieces
1-2 containers of vegan whipped topping (Soyatoo, Hip Whip, etc.) (about 16 oz.)
1 cup maraschino cherries

Mix oranges, pineapple, bananas, grapes, coconut, marshmallows and pecan pieces.  Whip the vegan topping if necessary and fold into fruit mixture.  Garnish with cherries and chill.

Oh yeah.  Don't forget to eat it!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Printable Vegan Marshmallow Recipe

Pan
Use a small 8x8 baking pan for amazingly thick marshmallows or 8x12 for a more manageable, bite-sized marshmallow. Mix 2T of vegan powdered sugar and 2T of cornstarch together. Spray your pan with oil and dust with the sugar/cornstarch mixture. Set aside.

Fluff
The fluff part of this recipe was inspired by Jeanette Sutton's web site recipe for agar marshmallows at meatandeggfree.com. She deserves a tremendous amount of credit for her work on fluff, a key to marshmallow success. If you are looking for an agar marshmallow, try Jeanette's recipe.

5T soy protein isolate 90% (available at many health food stores)
2t Baking Powder
3/4C cold water

Sugar Syrup
1.5C raw sugar
1C light corn syrup
1/2C water
1T Genutine Vegetarian Gelatin or try my Genutine substitute
2t vanilla extract

Genutine is a commercial product (click here to order) made primarily of carrageenan with locust bean gum and sucrose, according to their web site. It has no animal products in it. Not even close.

To make the fluff, mix the dry ingredients together first in a stand mixer. Add the water and whip with a whisk for 10 minutes until you get stiff peaks and an increase in volume. The volume will not increase dramatically and fill the bowl as you might see when using the Angel Food Marshmallow Mix. However, you will see some increase and you should get stiff peaks.

To make the sugar syrup, mix the Genutine with the raw sugar in a saucepan. Then add the water and whisk quickly. You should have a thick mixture. Add the corn syrup. Stir and heat on the stove. Use a candy thermometer and cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 230 degrees. By this time, it should be thick and gloppy. The mixture will begin to gel as one large mass and you will be able to catch sight of the bottom of your pan as you stir. Hurry up and stop cooking! Stir in the vanilla.

WARNING! This is extremely messy, gooey and sticky. If you have a splatter shield for your mixer, go get it! Otherwise, you will likely need a hand-held steam cleaner to clean your mixer when you are done. I speak from experience. DOH!

Turn the stand mixer on high and whisk the fluff as you quickly add the sugar syrup. DO NOT ADD THE SYRUP SLOWLY! The sugar gel is so sticky, it can climb up your whisk attachment and begin to gum up its connection to the mixer. Just dump it in with the mixer running as fast as it will go. Let whip for 10 minutes. Use a rubber scraper and pour the mixture into your prepared pan. Cover with a sheet of wax paper and push down the mix so it gets into the sides of the pan. Remove the wax paper and let cool in the fridge for at least an hour.

When cool, turn out on a cutting board. Cut squares in the size you like and coat all sides with more of your corn starch/powdered sugar mix.

Yields 30-35 marshmallows.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Vegan Meringue

I figured out this recipe by accident.  It's so easy, it will blow you away.  It's fluffy, firm, mildly sweet and browns under heat.

Anyone for lemon meringue pie?

5T of soy protein isolate
2t Baking Powder
3/4C of Pina Colada Mix (get the cheap stuff with no real coconut in it)
1/4t Guar gum

Whip for 10 minutes and top your pie.  That's it!

Note about Pina Colada Mix:  The mix I use is the cheapest thing I can find at Kroger.  The brand is called "On The House" in a clear plastic bottle with a yellow label.  I will post a picture soon. 

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

No Corn Syrup Vegan Marshmallow Recipe

I received a request for a vegan marshmallow recipe that has no corn syrup in it.  The only difference in the recipe is in the sugar syrup.  Use the following recipe for the sugar syrup instead of the one in the basic marshmallow recipe:


2C raw sugar

1T Genutine vegetarian gelatin

1C water


Mix the Genutine with the raw sugar in a pan until distributed evenly.  Add the water, stir well and cook at high heat until the mixture reaches a temperature of 225-227 degrees Fahrenheit and the mixture begins to form as one mass.  Note that this is a lower temperature than the basic marshmallow recipe.  


Once the mixture reaches 225-227 degrees, continue on with the basic marshmallow recipe by dumping the sugar syrup into the mixer.    


Enjoy your corn syrup-free marshmallows!


Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Vegan Agave Nectar Marshmallows

So, you're in the mood for a really expensive marshmallow, huh? Me too. Here's how it is done.

Replace the sugar syrup in the basic vegan marshmallow recipe with:

3C agave nectar (light or amber depending on your tastes)
1/2C water
2T Genutine vegetarian gelatin

For reference, 3 cups of agave is about one and a half 23.5 oz bottles of agave nectar. Whisk the Genutine into the nectar adding a little bit of the Genutine at a time to avoid clumping. Then whisk in the 1/2C of water. Heat on the stove to 250 degrees stirring constantly and briskly to avoid the syrup boiling over the side. When this thing boils, it can really climb the sides of the pot!

When the syrup reaches 250 degrees, continue with the basic recipe as written. Pour it into the mixer while it is running and let whip for 10 minutes. Note that the agave syrup will not form a gelatinous mass as the recipe does with corn syrup or cane sugar. Rather, it will be very fluid allowing you to pour it at a normal rate into the mixer. No need to dump it in as quickly as possible.

The marshmallows will be an off-white color but the consistency will be like any other marshmallow. The taste is very sweet and more complex than the typical marshmallow.

Happy Marshmallowing!