Elderberry Honey Marshmallows

We had a lot of compliments and requests (thanks everyone!) for the Elderberry Honey Marshmallows I made for our Annual Thanksgiving Fruit Tasting this year, and so, here is the recipe!! It may feel complicated, but I promise you, it's easier than you think!

Elderberry Honey Marshmallows

Marshmallows are best kept at a steady temperature in a dry environment – humidity can make them get pretty sticky. To avoid this, store in a cool dry place, or freeze if you plan to keep them over 2 weeks.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 c water (or cooled elderberry juice if you have time to make some ahead)
• 3/4 c elderberry juice, split into a 1/2 c and a 1/4 c
• 2 ½ Tablespoons powdered gelatin, 225 bloom strength (same as Knox gelatin)
• 1 ¼ cup wildflower honey (or any honey will work, I just like the flavour of wildflower honey)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional, I forgot to add it to my batch for the tasting)
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• arrowroot powder or tapioca starch (for coating afterwards)

Tools needed:

• candy thermometer
• stand mixer/beaters

Method:

1. If you don't have a juicer, cook & mash elderberries to release juice - a small amount of water in the pan is helpful, but keep it minimal for a strong elderberry-flavour. Split the juice into 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup for steps 2 & 3.
2. Generously line a casserole dish (8x8 works well but other sizes will suffice) with parchment paper. Take time to fold the creases and have a good inch or two of parchment sticking up on all sides on the pan. Sprinkle the parchment with a layer of arrowroot.
3. In your mixer bowl, add the 1/4 c water and 1/4 c elderberry juice. Sprinkle the gelatin over this 1/2 cup of liquid. Allow to bloom (hydrate) for around 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, pour remaining elderberry juice into a medium-large saucepan along with honey and salt. Heat the mixture on medium high until you hit 240-242°F on a candy thermometer. Be careful, as it will get pretty foamy. This will take about 10-15 minutes. **Note: this temperature for heating is recommended from the original recipe, and I would expect that it heats both honey and elderberries so much that it drastically reduces any health benefits. I also got tired of waiting for it to get that high, and stopped heating at 225°F, with no issues getting the marshmallows to set up properly.  Since the texture is formed by the gelatin and not the candy temp, you could probably just bring the honey and juice to a boil and then simmer for a bit, without worrying about the candy thermometer at all. Do what you will with that info!
5. Turn your mixer on to low/medium, and carefully pour the syrup into the bowl in a steady stream, mixing it with the softened gelatin. Avoid pouring directly onto beaters, it will splatter and hit you or harden onto the sides of the bowl.
6. Turn the mixer up to high, beat until tripled in volume, becomes light in colour, and is cool enough to touch, about 5-10 minutes. Add vanilla near the end, along with any other flavour additions you might want to make. You’ll know the marshmallow fluff is ready when it holds its shape for a moment then falls back when scooped up with the beaters.
7. Turn off mixer, and transfer the marshmallow fluff to your prepared pan, working quickly. Use a rubber spatula to spread the top down as flat as you can get it. Sprinkle with arrowroot powder.
8. Allow to sit and “cure” for 4-8 hours. If you cut them sooner, they will just be a bit goopy; for clean cut edges wait at least 4 hours, 6-8 is best.
9. When you are ready to cut your marshmallows, carefully lift them out of the pan and peel away the parchment. Depending how evenly you sprinkled it, you may need to scrape and use arrowroot to de-stick the parchment a bit. Dust a cutting board with arrowroot, and cut your mallows as desired, dusting as needed to help with the stickiness. Toss them once more in powder for a nice smooth finish.
10. Allowing marshmallows to cure for several hours to overnight will result in a firmer mallow that is easier to use for toasting. Adding more gelatin will also create a firmer marshmallow if desired.

This recipe is quite wonderful as is – the wildflower honey lends a lovely floral flavour, and they melt just beautifully in a hot drink. If you don't want to make elderberry marshmallows, just use water or any other juice in place!

How to make them even more gourmet:

After going to all the work of making my own marshmallows, I couldn’t resist making them extra special! Below are a few additional options we've tried over the years - the Mexican chocolate is great for hot cocoa, and if you toss a batch of chai marshmallows in cinnamon and arrowroot, it’s reminiscent of candy hearts!  ***These options are for a half batch of marshmallows, and the spices can be added once you've begun the mixing stage. Double the spice if you’re using a full batch! 

Chai: To your mallow mixture, add ¼ teaspoon (powdered) each: cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, black pepper. Use this mix again to coat the marshmallows, but mix with 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch.

Mexican Chocolate: Add to mallow mixture: 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon (powdered) each: cloves, cinnamon, allspice. Toss these marshmallows with 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 5 teaspoons cocoa powder, and two pinches cayenne (or to taste!).

Golden Spice: 1 tablespoons turmeric, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 pinch cayenne, 1 pinch black pepper. Roll these in 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1 tablespoon arrowroot.

In the world of adding additional flavours, the sky is the limit here - what’s your favourite tea? Try brewing a 4x strength batch of Earl Grey and use that as your water in the marshmallow recipe and kick up your London Fog game! My mom makes a delicious dish with pureed squash, topped with toasted pecans and marshmallows, which is then toasted until the marshmallows get all gooey and caramelized - maybe next time I’ll make a batch of buckwheat honey marshmallows to try out with that recipe!

If you like making homemade gifts, these are an excellent and quite easy (if a bit of a powder mess during the making) to create - even kids can help with the process!