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What are marshmallows and how are they made?

Cascabel
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Pavani
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  • I edited out the health aspect of your question because that's off topic here, but the answer the health question can be inferred from the answer to, "what is it?" – Jolenealaska Jan 06 '15 at 11:25
  • I have a posted an answer to the marshmallow question. I think that your shortening question is actually a duplicate: Here: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/33897/what-exactly-is-vegetable-shortening and here: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/7149/are-there-any-substitutes-for-shortening – Jolenealaska Jan 06 '15 at 12:16
  • @Jolenealaska The health question may stem from confusion over terms: the candy marshmallow -- it used to be made from the herb marshmallow root (Althaea officinalis), but it isn't anymore. I won't bother expanding on the effects of marshmallow root since that's definitely off-topic :) – Erica Jan 06 '15 at 13:30
  • I'm surprised nobody's posted about marshmallow farming... there was a problem with too much rain in North Carolina a few years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23QA1tSMpfw – mike Jan 06 '15 at 16:14
  • @mike Oh Jeez :) Hide and watch, someone is going to watch that and take it seriously. – Jolenealaska Jan 06 '15 at 16:32
  • I went ahead and edited out the shortening thing, since as was pointed out, you should only ask one question at a time, and if you posted that question separately it'd be a duplicate anyway. Also, I noticed that you tagged your question "fondant" - are you trying to ask something about a marshmallow fondant, perhaps? If you've never seen marshmallows where you are, there might be better options than trying to make your own marshmallows if you just want to make fondant. But people can't help if you don't ask! – Cascabel Jan 06 '15 at 16:53

1 Answers1

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Marshmallows are a white, fluffy candy, that easily melts and becomes sticky. They are almost all sugar (and corn syrup which is also sugar), with whipped gelatine. They're vanilla flavored, usually with clear vanillin, because the pure whiteness is the very essence of the candy.

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They're sometimes colored, but not usually:

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The little ones are often served in hot chocolate milk, and they're often used as ingredients in other things like fudge.

It's also very traditional to skewer them on a stick and roast them over a campfire:

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Put the roasted marshmallow between graham crackers with chocolate, you have a s'more, a favorite snack of campers everywhere.

Here's a tour of a huge marshmallow factory: YouTube video with some fun trivia too.

Here's a homemade version that I have done, complete with handy video, it's kind of a fun afternoon: Alton Brown's Marshmallows

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Jolenealaska
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