I think its important to understand why something became popular then we can build something better. The gelatin based mallows have the advantage of ease of manufacture and taste neutrality.

Fresh Wholefoods Murwillumbah is where I got it my dry marshmallow root. I suspect fresh root works better but am not sure whether it was ever introduced into Australia.

I agree, there is nothing like a bit of experimental archiology, I like making old hot chocolate recipes.

I don't think anywhere here will stock it, is the shop in Brisbane?

updated by @tom: 09/11/15 13:04:30

From the local health food / organic shop. They stock loads of obscure spices and things. Expensive at $95 a kg though. I just like deconstructing confectionary to understand it. Marshmallow clearly has a facinating history. Perhaps the first sweets of kings in Egypt.

What's amazing is how haunting the marshmallow taste is. It survives a meal for example. I can see why this flavour would become popular as your reminded of it so long. I can also see why gelatine and gum arabic came to be used, because the mallow I have are still sticky and not easy to handle. Using gelatine clearly leads to more stable results but bouncy, soft and sticky with a gooey centre is pleasant too.

Wow, quick turnaround on the experiment. Where did you get your marshmallow root powder from in Aus?

Are we going to see a marshmallow root iceblock?

Wow what a fascinating voyage of discovery. I have combined The Complete Confectioner recipe of 1864 for Syrup of Marshmallow with a recipe of my own for Italian meringue:

egg whites 5

sugar 280 g

marshmallow root 50 g

water 350 ml

Simmer marshmallow root in water for 10 minutes, blend softened root to a soup like consistency with a stick blender, simmer for 20 minutes. Add water if necessary to maintain a soup like consistency. Strain and add sugar to the brown / green liquid. Boil to the soft-ball stage (234F to 240F; 112C to 116C on a candy thermometer). Be careful in the last minutes that the froth does not rise over the pan top.

Whip egg whites to hard peaks. While continuing to whip add in the hot syrup. The mixture will expand and become light green brown. Scoop out mixture onto a dusted baking tray and dry in an oven.

What's amazing about the syrup is its stringiness and bounce. The old texts call it mucilaginous. It's quite possible to pull very fine strand 30 cm or more from the pan. The taste is also quite remarkable. I can confirm that vanilla is definitely not the original marshmallow taste. It's a complex taste with a nice lingering floral, nectar like finish. I detect notes of caramel, not fully cured vanilla bean and mushroom. Nothing quite like it. Fantastic.

I'll try and post some images of the finished marshmallows ifI have time and the kids don't polish them off too quickly.

Very helpful

From what I've read around it looks to me like marshmallow as we know it today was popularised when it was combined with whipped egg whites as a pharmaceutical in France. Perhaps to make it easier to swallow or eat. Thus the most original recipes are probably those containing simply marshmallow root, sugar and egg white. The most original recipes seem to use orange blossom water. I found one recipes that look interesting:

Marshmallows

2 egg whites

1/2 cup raw cane sugar

1 tbsp powdered Marshmallow (root)

Whip egg whites until almost stiff. Then whip in the sugar, 1 tsp at the time. Finally, add Marshmallow and whip again. Place by teaspoon full on cookie sheet. Bake in oven

for 1 hour at 325 F 160 C .

Changing the meringue to Italian style by heating the sugar and marshmallow root with a little water and adding it to the whipped whites then baking may work well too.I like Italian style meringue as it ensures the whites are properly heated. I'll probably make the two in tandem and compare results then tweak until I get a recipe I'm happy with.

Doubt you'll find it there. I got it when attending one of their Master classes.

Hmm... I'm not seeing any marshmallow recipe on the http://www.valrhona.com/ site? Anyone spot it?

Did you try taking the recipe back to the stage of marshmallow root and sugar as in Egypt? Ive found a few recipes involvingmarshmallow root, sugar and egg white similar toItalian style meringue.

Well Cheebs, you are a man whose opinion I value greatly when it comes to chocolate so I will give making marshmallows a try and dare to put them with my hot chocolate. The blow torch idea is great, that would be excellent I think both visually and making that plain sugar note complex.....brilliant! What a statement.

We already do (natural) vanilla, strawberry, raspberry, mango and passion fruit marshmallows using the Valrhona recipe. They are truly delicious and are relatively inexpensive to make. No relation whatsoever to the mass-produced bag crap. Huge (huge!) sellers, both in naked and chocolate covered form.

The vanilla marshmallows, burnt a little with a blowtorch, play beautifully with hot chocolate.

I'd love to get an original marshmallow recipe i.e. marshmalow and sugar. I'm guessing the originalis nothing like the sad chemical imitation we have now and vegans would love it

Rocky road with real marshmallow and good chocolate!Maybe rosewater or real strawberry and real vanilla. We could start a revolution!

Definitely potent enough. It's the strongest strawberry smell I've ever come across. I'm just not a fan of the lingering dried eucalyptus leaf finish

Finger limes are in season and in good supply this year. Riberries are over. Bunya nuts just over.Davidsons mid way. Raspberries not started yet.

Seems I have an answer http://www.marshmallowfluff.com/pages/history1.html . It looks to me like marshmallows in hot chocolate isa product of marketing, the marshmallow company buys a hot chocolate mix company and then promotes the use of both products together to make more sales. Makes dollars and cents.

I have thought about using other bush tucker flavours but not done anything.

With the strawberry gum I was thinking about grinding the dried leaf into the chocolate until the texture is indistinguisable from the chocolate itself. I have done this with coffee and cinamon with great results, perhaps the strawberry gum leaf would not be potent enough?

Sure I got mine from http://www.playingwithfire.com.au/ . I'd seriously warn you off trying to use the leaf directly. The steam distillation of the methyl cinnamate does not sound too unnatural or toxic but it's probably like having vanillin instead of vanilla i.e. no of the delicious complexity of reality.

If your looking for an interesting bush tucker taste have you tried the native raspberries, bunya nut processed correctly, davidson's plums, finger limes (caviar inclusions?) or riberries?

I have been thinking of using Stawberry gum in chocolate making, there is a place that makes ice-cream with it in http://www.bushtuckericecream.com.au/

Do you know anywhere to get it from I know the Melbourne Food Depot does it http://www.mfcd.net/store/categories.asp?cID=4&c=244157

I doubt they have seen much actual Strawberry. More likey the "natural" strawberry flavouring methyl cinnamate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_cinnamate extracted from the leaves of the Strawberry gum or Eucalyptus olida.

Crazy plant. I have some of the leaves and even after years of storage (because they taste awfull) the smell ofStrawberry is very strong.

That wiki link is fascinating. I wonder if anyone actually uses marshmallow to make marshmallows anymore!

Wow, I am enlightened http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshmallow however still no info on the first marshmallow in a hot chocolate.

Yeah, New Zealand has a massive tradition of marshmallows and chocolate, a friend of mine was telling me that about half of the chocolate bars in NZ have some form of marshmallow in them.

Perhaps looking back to when it all started, the first marshmallow to sully a hot chocolate, that may provide some insights. I am hoping that perhaps some Americans can comment as for some reason I associate marshmallows in hot chocolate with the USA.

Personally, I find marshmallows revolting, probably on par with fairy floss (candy floss) as the most horrible confection. That said I have not made my own marshmallowsand I usually find that if I make something myself the traditional way they result is lightyears ahead of the mass produced filth.

For me marshmallows are too sweet to add to a good hot chocolate and the huge vanilla hit or God forbid strawberry hit you get from adding them totally overpowers the chocolate. Perhaps you are right and a hand made more subtle variety is required to understand why it was done in the first place....or perhaps it was a sugar addict that did it!

Tradition, it's colourful and because it revives childhood memories? It's cheap for manufacturers to tart up a second rate product? In NZ there is a huge tradition of adding a marshmallow coated chocolate frog as a gift with a hot beverage. Fairy bread is equally odd. Adding artificial colours and gelatine to a quality chocolate seems absurd.I'm also guessing that a decent marshmallow with a natural flavouring such as vanilla could be a nice complement to a coffee or chocolate. Perhaps the tradition was borne of that and has been corrupted over time.

I am curious to know why people like (or dislike) marshmallows in hot chocolate.
updated by @tom: 04/20/15 09:03:44