Pillows and Marshmallows

‘Last night I dreamed I ate a 10-pound marshmallow, and when I woke up the pillow was gone.‘ Have you ever dreamt about marshmallows? Tommy Cooper once did at the cost of his own pillow. As I am leaning against my pillow, almost half dozed off, I thought I would share the recipe of my homemade marshmallows.

It’s probably unsurprising to know that I am always a big fan of sweet treats, but this is my first time making any kind of confectionary. And surprisingly, these pillowy blueberry marshmallows are rather easy to make. I can say my friends and I had fun eating them while dipping them in our hot chocolate and coffee yesterday. (It’s quite a sticky business though! 😂)

The recipe is adapted from the book ‘Pâtisserie’ by William and Suzue Curley. The recipe starts from making a blueberry purée, but you can also adapt it for other kinds of fruit purée to create marshmallows of different flavours! 😋

Blueberry Marshmallows

Quantity: 1 tray

Ingredients:

For the blueberry purée:

150g blueberries

15g caster sugar

15ml water

1 tsp lemon juice

For the marshmallows:

110g blueberry purée

10g leaf gelatine

225g caster sugar

135ml water

38g egg whites

Icing sugar, for dusting

Cornflour, for dusting

Method:

1. To make the blueberry purée, place blueberries, caster sugar, water and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to boil and crush the blueberries as you are cooking them. Pass the purée through a sieve and set aside.

2. Soak the leaf gelatine in cold water and set aside.

3. Use 110g of the blueberry purée to make the marshmallows. (You can save any leftovers to eat later, for example, putting it in plain yogurt!) Place the purée in a saucepan and bring to boil.

4. Squeeze off any excess water from the leaf gelatine and add it to the purée. Stir until the gelatine is fully dissolved. Set aside.

5. Place the caster sugar and water in a saucepan and heat to create a syrup.

6. In a large, clean mixing bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks.

7. Mix the syrup with the purée mixture. Then add it to the whisking egg whites. Continue to whisk until smooth and cold.

8. Mix equal amounts of cornflour and icing sugar together. Sift into a bowl.

9. Line a small baking tray with baking paper (choose one with enough depth). Dust it with the cornflour and icing sugar mixture, saving some for dusting the marshmallows later. Pour the marshmallow mixture into the tray and spread evenly.

10. Place in a fridge for about 1-2 hours, or until set.

11. Once set, cut into cubes of marshmallows and roll in the dusting mixture before serving.

Have a sweet marshmallow dream! (Excuse me as I doze off on my pillow 😴…)