Old-Fashioned Marshmallows, Take One

Marshmallows, much like soda, used to have medicinal value. They were recommended to soothe a sore throat and treat coughs and heartburn.  And that's because they had marshmallow root in them.

Today's marshmallows, not only are missing their namesake ingredient, but additionally contain corn syrup, modified corn starch, and artificial flavors and colors (Blue 1, yum yum).

Even the vegan marshmallows like Dandies and Sweet & Sara contain corn syrup and don't appear to contain any marshmallow root. Is wanting a marshmallow with actual marshmallow in it asking for too much?

Unable to find authentic marshmallows for purchase, I have thought often about making my own, but I had no idea what besides marshmallow root and presumably sugar would go into an old-fashioned marshmallow. Well, lucky me, I stumbled across New Life On A Homstead's page which has two recipes for old-fashioned marshmallows. Today I attempted to make the second of the two recipes, because I have no idea what tragacanth is (sounds like the name of a Tolkein character)  and it was 13 bucks on Amazon.

The second recipe required: egg whites, vanilla extract, sugar, and ground marshmallow root. my marshmallow root was not already ground, so I ground some up the best I could with the coffee grinder.  

As far as taste, the batter was pretty pleasant tasting. I was a bit worried because if you have ever smelled marshmallow root, it is not the most appeasing of herbs, but the sugar,vanilla and egg whites managed to mellow the mallow.  I think this might make good marshmallow fluff, maybe it could be used in Rice Krispie treats.

Once I started baking, is when the trouble began. First off, the hour of cooking time is definitely over kill.  I think they should probably be pulled out at 20 minutes. I didn't follow the instructions to place the batter by the tsp onto a baking sheet. I just made one gigantic marshmallow because I had seen other marshmallow recipes which baked it as one piece and cut it up afterwards. I also stuck it in a bread pan instead of an actual baking dish because the amount of batter looked rather small and I was worried about my marshmallows being too thin. Next time, I would do an 8x8 baking pan because it seems like it does puff up in the oven. At 20 minutes mine looked like a nice soufflé and smelled amazing, but I was convinced that it had to go longer because the recipe gave a 1 hour cooking time. I pulled mine out after 35 minutes because it smelled like it were burning and it had collapsed on itself.

So they were not bad tasting (Lord Rat even ate some willingly), but they were not like any marshmallow I ever had. We did eat most of it before I could take a picture though. They were thin, a little burnt on top with a bottom layer that was a little gooey. I think the recipe has the potential to be tweaked though.