Easy Homemade Marshmallows

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These easy homemade marshmallows are a perfect sweet treat that are so impressive to serve. If you have never had them, you are in for such a treat. The soft, fluffy texture and sweet flavour is so delicious. Trust me, homemade marshmallows are a world away from shop bought. The texture is just so different, so if you think you don't love marshmallows, these may change your mind!

I know marshmallows have a reputation for being sickly sweet and cloying. However, that really isn’t the case with homemade marshmallows. They are light, springy and sweet - but not overpoweringly so. Plus you can play around with the flavours. Chocolate, salted caramel, coffee... The list goes on and I have created a deliciously fruity raspberry option using a homemade raspberry purée. But you can experiment with different fruits! If you want to make chocolate marshmallows, they are also just as simple and delicious!

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Why you will love this recipe:
Ingredients:
What is Liquid Glucose?
Substitutions and Variations:
Here's how to make Easy Homemade Marshmallows:
Here's how to make Raspberry Marshmallows:
Cooking Tips:
Can I make these marshmallows without a sugar thermometer?
Frequently Asked Questions
How To Store Homemade Marshmallows
Other recipes you might enjoy:
Made this recipe and loved it?
Easy Homemade Marshmallows

Once you have finished making your homemade marshmallows, there are SO many ways to enjoy them. Obviously they are delicious on top of a rich and creamy mug of hot chocolate! However, you can also pop them into pretty bags and give them as a homemade gift. They are also ideal as a dinner party petit four with a cup of coffee. Or, sandwich between two biscuits with a square of chocolate and turn into a gooey s’more…

Why you will love this recipe:

They are so much better than shop bought marshmallows. Imagine beautifully sweet, soft and light bites of deliciousness.
They are versatile. Enjoy getting creative and adding your own flavours.
They are the perfect homemade gift. Plus, you can make ahead up to 3 weeks in advance.
They can be used in so many ways. Think gooey s’mores, rich hot chocolate, indulgent rocky road or as a petit four.

In this post, I'm going to talk you through how to make plain marshmallows. Then I will show you how to make it with a raspberry twist. If you've never made marshmallows before, feel free to start with plain and then you can experiment with other flavours once you feel more confident.

Ingredients:

Full recipe can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, just scroll down

Vegetable oil - a light, but thorough, coating of vegetable oil ensures the flavoured cornflour sticks to the tupperware. You can use any flavourless oil. Sunflower or rapeseed also work well.

Cornflour - a mixture of icing sugar and cornstarch helps stop the marshmallows from sticking to everything.

Icing sugar - this adds sweetness to the cornflour coating. You can use vanilla icing sugar for a delicious vanilla flavour.

Powdered gelatine - this allows the marshmallow mixture to set, ready to be cut into perfect cubes.

Liquid glucose - this is the secret ingredient to the perfect homemade marshmallows. It helps create the perfect soft and bouncy texture.

Caster sugar - this forms the basis of the sugar syrup. You can use golden caster sugar for a darker marshmallow. Granulated sugar also works well.

Water - this is used to dissolve the gelatine and create the sugar syrup.

Raspberries -You can use fresh or frozen raspberries. These add a delicious fruity flavour to the marshmallows but they are optional, if you want to make plain ones instead.

Cocoa Powder - for the chocolate marshmallows recipe.

What is Liquid Glucose?

Liquid Glucose is a thick, clear syrup made from corn starch or maize starch (or other starches). It can also be known as corn syrup or glucose syrup, but they are a little different. They would work in a pinch but try to find liquid glucose to be sure.

It's used in many baking or confectionery recipes such as these marshmallows but also it's useful in icings and jams. It's much easier to buy it than to make it, so I'd recommend that. You can buy it in the UK in many big supermarkets in the baking section. Dr Oetker Liquid Glucose is a good one. Otherwise, ordering online is easy too.

It has the same texture and viscosity as golden syrup but it's clear and doesn't taste the same.

Substitutions and Variations:

Fruit: you can swap the raspberries for all sorts of berries. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and cherries all make delicious marshmallows. If you don’t want to make your own purée, you can use a shop bought one. Strawberry Red and Funkin have some great flavours.
Liquid glucose: you can swap for golden syrup or runny honey which will also add flavour.
Vanilla: you can flavour the plain ones with vanilla to make vanilla marshmallows. Simply mix in a little vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. Just avoid vanilla essence as this is artificial and will give the marshmallows a synthetic taste.
Food colouring: you can make different coloured marshmallows by adding a couple of drops of food colouring. Ideal if making for themed parties or to match a colour scheme.

Here's how to make Easy Homemade Marshmallows:

Here's a step by step guide for what you need to do, but you can find the full recipe below for detailed instructions.

ONE: Prep the containers: you will need 3 tupperware containers roughly about 20 x 12 cm - smaller will mean you get thicker marshmallows and vice versa. Brush each container with vegetable oil and set aside. If keeping as one flavour and you have it, you could use a 35 x 20cm larger tupperware.

TWO: In a separate bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon cornflour with the icing sugar. Take one of the oiled containers and tip in the icing sugar-cornflour mix, turning to coat the base and all the sides. Tap out any excess onto a non-stick baking tray and reserve for later. Repeat with the other two containers. Set aside.

THREE: Place the gelatine into a large heatproof bowl (ideally the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one). Add the 2 tablespoon cold water and mix well. Set aside.

FOUR: Next, add the glucose syrup and caster sugar to a large saucepan. Pour in 150ml water and place over a medium heat. Stir gently until the sugar has dissolved in the water. Once the mix begins to simmer, stop stirring.

FIVE: Continue to heat over a medium-high heat, gently swirling the pan, until the sugar syrup reaches 115C (use a jam thermometer to check). At this stage the liquid should be clear and bubbling. Handle the pan carefully as it will be extremely hot.

Adding egg whites to the gelatine mixture

SIX: Remove the pan from the heat and very carefully, drizzle the sugar syrup into the gelatine whilst whisking with an electric whisk. You will find this easiest if you use a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Whisking egg whites with
Marshmallow mixture

SEVEN: Once all has been added, whisk on medium-high speed for a further 12-14 minutes - or until you have a thick, white meringue-like texture. Now you can choose which flavours you want to add, if any. Scroll down for instructions on raspberry marshmallows.

Three containers with different flavours marshmellow mixture

EIGHT: If keeping plain, spoon the mixture into the three containers (or one large) and smooth over the top using a spatula or palette knife. Leave to set for at least 2 hours.

NINE: Set out your cornflour-dusted baking trays. Tip the marshmallows onto the respective trays. Dust a large sharp knife with icing-sugar cornflour then cut the marshmallow into equal-sized cubes. Toss to coat each one in the icing-sugar cornflour. Enjoy!

TEN: This is the texture you are looking for once done!

Here's how to make Raspberry Marshmallows:

It's simple to flavour marshmallows and mix it up. We love chocolate, salted caramel, coffee flavoured ones, as well as raspberry.

If you want to make them raspberry flavoured, follow the steps below. The above steps give you instructions on how to make plain marshmallows which act as the base to raspberry marshmallows.

ONE: Begin by making the raspberry purée: tip the raspberries into a small saucepan. Add the sugar and a splash of water.

TWO: Place over a low-medium heat and bring to a simmer. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until thickened.

THREE: Strain the mixture through a sieve into a clean bowl remove the seeds. Leave to cool completely before chilling in the fridge to firm up.

FOUR: Make the marshmallow mixture as insutrcted below in the recipe card. Use the above step by step as a guide. Once you have reached step seven, you can continue on with raspberry flavours.

FIVE: Fold the raspberry through the marshmallow mix until totally pink.

SIX: Spoon the mixture into the three containers (or one large) and smooth over the top using a spatula or palette knife. Leave to set for at least 2 hours.

SEVEN: Set out your cornflour-dusted baking trays. Tip the marshmallows onto the respective trays. Dust a large sharp knife with icing-sugar cornflour then cut the marshmallow into equal-sized cubes. Toss to coat each one in the icing-sugar cornflour. Enjoy!

TEN: This is the texture you are looking for once done!

Cooking Tips:

Preparing the container: homemade marshmallows are very sticky. That means you do need to make sure you grease your container very well. The same applies with adding the cornflour dusting. Equally, before storing, make sure they are liberally coated. Otherwise they will stick together.

Different sized marshmallows: you can make whatever size you like. Use larger tupperware containers for shallower marshmallows. Alternatively, use narrower tupperware containers for deeper marshmallows. Once set, you can choose how big or small to make your marshmallow cubes or rectangles.

Using a sugar thermometer: I would highly recommend a thermometer. If you don't have one, scroll down for how to do it without.

Dust the knife: before cutting the marshmallows, dust the knife with the cornflour-icing sugar mix. This will help you create clean, neat cubes of marshmallow.

Keep cool and dry: homemade marshmallows will keep for up to 3 weeks in a sealed container in a cool, dry place. However, if they get wet they will become sticky so avoid contact with water.

Can I make these marshmallows without a sugar thermometer?

You can but it is definitely trickier to do so. I would always advise to use a sugar thermometer, they are relatively inexpensive and you can use them across other areas of cooking too. If you are making these without one, you will need to use the cold water method.
Whilst the sugar syrup is bubbling and reaching temperature, take a small amount of sugar syrup on a spoon and drop it into a bowl of cold water every 5 minutes or so.

If the sugar dissolves completely, it's too early.

If the sugar forms a shape in the water but is still totally squishy between your fingers (almost dissolving between your fingers), it's still too early.

When the sugar forms a shape in the water, forming a firm and pliable ball between your fingers, holding its shape when pressed down and not dissolving, it HAS REACHED THE RIGHT TEMP. It's ready for the next step!

If you try that and the ball is too firm and very hard to move, it has gone too far. You can always add a splash more hot water to the pan to bring the temp back down and then try again to catch it at the right stage.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is liquid glucose/glucose syrup the same as corn syrup?

Essentially yes. All corn syrup is glucose syrup, but not all glucose syrup is corn syrup. You can use them interchangeably in this recipe if you can only find corn syrup rather than glucose syrup (which is the same as liquid glucose!)

Is liquid glucose the same as glucose syrup?

Yes, they are the same thing.

What are the ingredients of a marshmallow?

The perfect homemade marshmallow contains sugar, cornflour, gelatine and air. Some recipes add egg whites, but I don’t think they are necessary. Although they make for even softer marshmallows, they won’t last as well.

How are homemade marshmallows made?

Although you might think making your own marshmallows is complicated, it really isn’t. You start by dissolving gelatine in water. Then you make a sugar syrup. Once the sugar syrup reaches 115C, you slowly pour it over the gelatine while whisking at high speed. This creates little air pockets in the sugar syrup - a bit like when whipping cream. The result? A light and fluffy marshmallow-like mix. This is then tipped into a container dusted with icing sugar and cornflour and left to set. Personally, I think that is the hardest part! The above is a very brief outline of how real marshmallows are made. Scroll up for a helpful step by step guide.

Can you make vegan marshmallows?

Yes. It is possible to make vegan marshmallows. Unfortunately, this recipe isn’t vegan as it uses gelatine. For a vegan marshmallow recipe, you need to use agar agar. This comes as a powder but needs to be boiled in a liquid. Although it helps ‘set’ recipes like gelatine, it isn’t a like-for-like swap.

Why are my marshmallows not fluffy?

It's important that you keep an eye on the temperature of the mixture when it's bubbling, as if it gets too hot, it firms the sugar too much and will harden them. This is why a sugar thermometer is so useful.

How To Store Homemade Marshmallows

How to store homemade marshmallows?

Make sure each individual marshmallow is liberally coated in the icing-cornflour mix as that stops them all sticking together in the container. They need to be in an airtight container and I would layer with greaseproof paper if stacking in layers, to avoid any sticking.

How long do homemade marshmallows keep?

They will keep for up to 3 weeks in a sealed container in a cool, dry place

Can I freeze homemade marshmallows?

Yes, they can be frozen! They will last up to 3 months. They do keep for a few weeks so you may not need to freeze them.

Other recipes you might enjoy:

My tiramisu coffee and chocolate mochi are ideal to have in the freezer for when you are craving something sweet. Also don’t miss my sfingi doughnuts. They are super quick, easy and utterly delicious. My brownie bites are also a must-try. Irresistibly rich and gooey with a fabulously fudgy centre. So good.

Made this recipe and loved it?

I would love love LOVE if you could leave a review in the comments… I love hearing what you thought, any changes you made, the stories behind what made you try my recipes. Also, if you share a photo on Instagram, please tag me @desertislanddishes, it makes my day to see you making my creations!