Marshmallow is a soft, airy product which makes you feel good. These are confectionery items that come in different shapes and have a variety of applications. You can enjoy marshmallow as a candy or put it in hot chocolate or as a filling in a bakery product. It can be moulded into various shapes and colors, making the dish appealing. But do you know how the first marshmallow was made? Ancient Egyptians first enjoyed this gooey treat around 2000BC. Earlier, it was prepared from the sap of the mallow plant (Athaea officinalis), which is grown in marshes, along with mixing it with nuts and honey. Later, in the early 1800, people started whipping the sap, which further led to the replacement of the sap with the modified corn-starch and gelatin for stable foam. With further advancement in the technologies, the ingredients and manufacturing process of the marshmallows get changed, and now, it is completely mechanised.
So what are all the ingredients finally used in the manufacturing of marshmallows? How do marshmallows get its soft, airy structure?
Marshmallows are made up of four major ingredients: water, sugar, gelatin, and AIR. Yes, air is one of the important ingredients of marshmallow as it consists of almost 50% of the product. Gelatin has a major role in the development of this fluffy product. Gelatin is a structural protein derives from animal’s skin, connective tissues, and bones. Proteins are the surface-active agents which forms and stabilize gas bubbles in the product henceforth, production of marshmallows requires good quantity of proteins for stabilizing the fluffy structure. Gelatin and sometimes, egg albumin is also used for more stability.
The sugar ratio also has an important role in the marshmallow production. A marshmallow contains about 60% corn syrup and 30% sucrose. The syrup/sugar ratio is important as it affects the texture of the marshmallows by slowing the crystallization of the sucrose. Crystallization of sucrose leads to the grainy product, which is undesirable. Sometimes, invert syrup is also added to make the marshmallows tenderer.
To make fluffy marshmallows, the most important step is to incorporate air and stabilize it in the product. This stabilisation is achieved by the addition of emulsifiers/stabilizers. Initially, crystal sugar, corn syrup, and water are mixed properly and boiled to 115ᵒC. The hot syrup is slightly cooled and added with gelatin, thoroughly mixed and strained to remove any extraneous matter. If some color or flavour is to be added, it is done at this stage. Furthermore, the mixture is transferred to the whipping kettle where it’s beaten and whipped to incorporate air. The incorporated air creates small bubbles throughout, which gives marshmallows its fluffiness. Gelatin has a major role in the formation of these tiny air bubbles. It acts to keep these air bubbles held within the sugary phase. Gelatin molecules situate themselves right at the interface between an air cell and the continuous syrup phase, forming a protective coating around each dispersed air bubble. It causes the bubble to remain intact otherwise, if gelatin is not available, the bubble will either pop or aggregate to form a bigger bubble, leading to collapsing of the structure.
Once the mixture is whipped, it is squeezed through an extrusion nozzle with die of different shapes to make the marshmallows of different shapes. The product is formed like a long tube which is further cut into short pieces as per the requirement. The marshmallows are sprayed with the corn starch to prevent the stickiness and to maintain their shape. After this, it is cooled down on a shaking belt where extra starch can be shredded off from the surface, and we get a perfectly made marshmallow without any stickiness on the surface.
Nowadays, marshmallows are available in different colors and flavours. The majority of marshmallows are available in vanilla flavour, but other flavours such as orange, strawberry, lemon, etc. are also available under various brands. The trend for marshmallow in India is increasing nowadays, and it’s available in various supermarkets now. So grab a packet of marshmallow and enjoy the fluffy texture of it on your own!!
References:
Marshmallows-NCA.(2021).Retrievedfrom https://candyusa.com/marshmallows/#:~:text=History%20of%20Marshmallows,that%20grows%20wild%20in%20marshes.
Marshmallow - Wikipedia. (2021). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshmallow
Why is a marshmallow called a marshmallow?. (2021). Retrieved from https://medium.com/food-microshots/why-is-a-marshmallow-called-a-marshmallow-23565c9beee0#:~:text=The%20key%20is%20to%20keep,held%20within%20the%20sugary%20phase.
How marshmallow is made - manufacture, history, used, parts, product, industry, machine, History, Raw Materials. (2021). Retrieved from http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Marshmallow.html
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