Homemade Flower Fairy Marshmallows

Flower Fairy Marshmallows Herbal

Infused with Hibiscus, Chamomile & Rose Tea (Recipe)

I love plants and playing around in the kitchen so lately I’ve been marrying the two together. Having never made marshmallows, I was a bit nervous. It all seemed very scientific-and it is. But I was. ready for a challenge. Usually I bake cakes & cookies but I thought Marshmallows would be a fun winter activity. And as far as mixing with plant friends, the options are endless!

It’s interesting, I never even liked marshmallows, let alone wanted to make them. But then I started thinking about Fairies and the kinds of things one might find on a Fairy banquet and of course marshmallows would have to be on there. No ordinary marshmallows mind you, but magickal, next level marshamallows to be sure. I kept thinking about them and them and it felt a bit like the cravings I would get when I was pregnant. So then one day, on a trip, I tried a homemade marshmallow and it was divine. worthy of being Fairy food. That led me to wanting to experiment with my own. A few days later, I found myself up late in my tiny kitchen making my first batch (I made Earl Grey Tea w lavender & rose marshmallows) at home.

It was a magick project! Making marshmallows feels like ancient alchemy & is very satisfying. I feel very connected to my ancestors and past lives, as one often does when working in the kitchen. Plus it’s really cool to actually be able to do something one my own, that’d I’d never even thought possible. It was a small event that was sweet & fun & encouraging.

Flower Fairy Marshmallows-Hibiscus, Chamomile & Rose Tea Infused

(base recipe adapted from Local Milk Recipe)

makes about 24 2″ marshmallows

 Ingredients 

 •Olive Oil or Nonstick vegetable oil spray

• 1.5 cups water

• 1 1/2 T finely ground (equal parts) dried Hibiscus, Chamomile, Rose flowers

ground to a fine powder

• 3 1/4-ounce (standard size) envelopes unflavored gelatin

• 2 cups sugar

• 2/3 cup light corn syrup

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• ! teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

• 1/3 cup corn starch

• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

 Equipment 

• candy thermometer

• electric mixer

Cooking Directions:

Carefully line a 13x9x2 inch pan with parchment paper . Coat lightly with olive oil, wiping excess away with paper towel or us nonstick spray (I never have spray so I used oil-DO NOT skip this step!). Bring the 1.5 cups of water to a boil and add the powdered flowers.

-You will need to grind the flowers in a coffee grinder to make them very powdery (see picture below). You can grind rice in your grinder to clean it of coffee and then again after you grind the herbs-that’s what I do. Remove from heat and steep covered 30 minutes

Strain w a very fine sieve and measure a 1/2 cup of the flower tea into a bowl and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until very cold. Measure another 1/2 cup of flower tea into a heavy medium saucepan. Drink the extra tea or leave as an offering for your kitchen Fairies.

 When the tea is chilled, pour it into the bowl of heavy-duty mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Note-I don’t have a stand mixer-so I used a large bowl and a vintage electric hand mixer which is a bit of a challenge. You need power, so use an electric mixer of some sort.

Sprinkle gelatin over water. Let stand until gelatin softens and absorbs water, at least 15 minutes.

Combine 2 cups sugar, corn syrup, salt, with the tea in the saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Attach a candy thermometer to side of pan. Increase heat and bring syrup to boil. Boil, without stirring, until syrup reaches 235-240ºF, about 8 minutes. This step is very important!

With mixer running at low speed, slowly & with great care, pour hot syrup into gelatin mixture in thin stream down side of bowl (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk, as it may splash). The syrup will burn you at this stage so be really careful! Gradually increase speed to high and beat until mixture is very thick and stiff, about 15 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract if using and beat about 30 seconds longer. It will be voluminous & pale, begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl, and will fall very slowly in a wide ribbon when the whisk is lifted when done. I’ve found that, it will pretty much be impossible to keep going, at least with my 60s hand mixeer, once it’s done.

Quickly scrape marshmallow mixture into prepared pan with a wet spatula, work fast as it gets harder to work with if it sits. Smooth top with wet spatula. Let stand uncovered (or if you have pets, lightly drape parchment paper over pan to protect, at room temperature until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.

 Sift corn starch and powdered sugar together in a bowl. Sift generous dusting of starch-sugar mixture onto work surface, forming rectangle slightly larger than 13×9 inches. Turn marshmallow slab out onto starch-sugar mixture; peel off parchment or foil. Sift more starch-sugar mixture over marshmallow slab.

Coat large sharp knife (or cookie cutters) with water or nonstick spray. Cut marshmallows into squares or other shapes, keeping knife wet or coated. If you like you can sprinkle some of the dry powdered flowers on first (but, while it looks pretty, most people don’t like getting tiny bits of plants in their teeth) Toss each in remaining starch-sugar mixture to coat. Transfer marshmallows to rack, shaking off excess mixture. Store marshmallows in an airtight container. They will keep for about a week.

This is what your powdered flowers will look like.

I find these delicious and they do taste lightly herbal & floral but NOT soapy. I have so many ideas for herbal marshmallows! Play around and have some fun with your favorite plants & flavors.

These marshmallows are lovely at afternoon tea or in a rose mocha or caramel latte.

Beauties!

Be blessed and beautiful my friends! xo Mindy Sue Bell