Pastry recipe
Coconut marshmallows with aquafaba
Coconut-coated marshmallow cubes, made without egg white or gelatine. You whip VERY AQUAFABA, combine it with a hot sugar syrup and iota carrageenan, then pour the mixture into a frame to cool. Toasted coconut goes into the marshmallow and around every cut side before you serve or pack the cubes. One batch uses 100g of VERY AQUAFABA. Updated: .
What do you need for one batch?
Toasted coconut
- 250g dried grated coconut
Marshmallow
- 85g water
- 285g sugar
- 140g invert sugar
- 100g VERY AQUAFABA
- 115g water
- 5g sugar
- 7.5g iota carrageenan
- 35g toasted coconut
Toast the 250g of grated coconut for 8 minutes at 150 °C with the fan on, and keep 35g of it for the marshmallow mixture. The rest goes over the slab and around the cut cubes. Weigh the two waters and the two sugars separately, because they go into two different pans.
The finished recipe contains coconut. Check the labels of every ingredient you use before making an allergen statement about the finished marshmallows.
How do you make the marshmallows?
Prepare your frame on a silicone mat or guitar sheet before you start combining the mixtures, because the marshmallow is poured the moment it is finished.
1. Cook the syrup
Put 85g of water, 285g of sugar and 140g of invert sugar into a saucepan and heat to 121 °C. Take the pan off the heat and let the syrup cool to 95 °C.
2. Whip the aquafaba
While the syrup cools, pour 100g of VERY AQUAFABA into the mixer bowl and whip it with the whisk attachment until it holds on the whisk.
3. Prepare the carrageenan
Pour 115g of water into a second saucepan, whisk in 7.5g of iota carrageenan and 5g of sugar, and heat to 80 °C.
4. Combine the mixtures
Add the carrageenan mixture to the syrup once the syrup has cooled to 95 °C. With the mixer running, pour it gradually over the whipped aquafaba, then add 35g of toasted coconut.
5. Pour and cool
Pour the marshmallow mixture straight into the prepared frame, sprinkle toasted coconut over the top and leave it to cool completely.
6. Cut and coat
Cut the slab into cubes with a guitar cutter and coat every side with toasted coconut. Keep the finished marshmallows in an airtight tin in a dry place.
Why three temperatures?
The syrup is cooked to 121 °C to lose water and reach the sugar concentration that gives a marshmallow its chew. It is then left to fall to 95 °C before it meets the foam, because a syrup straight off the heat would collapse the whipped aquafaba and cook it against the bowl. The carrageenan is dissolved at 80 °C so that it is fully in solution when it joins the cooled syrup, and the two set together in the frame.
The drizzle has to be gradual for the same reason: pour the syrup in one go and the foam loses the air it needs to carry the coconut. How to whip aquafaba gives the peak to look for before the syrup goes in.
How do you use VERY AQUAFABA powder?
Make up 8g of VERY AQUAFABA powder with 120 ml of water, chill it, then weigh 100g into the mixer bowl. You will have a small amount left after weighing the recipe dose: keep it refrigerated at 2 to 6 °C and use it within 3 to 4 days, like any opened liquid. Check the powder and water proportions for a different quantity.
If you are making several frames, scale the complete ingredient list with the marshmallow calculator before you start.
What should you have ready before you start?
This recipe moves quickly once you combine the syrup, carrageenan and whipped aquafaba. Before the syrup goes on, have:
- the coconut toasted
- the frame ready
- both waters weighed separately
- both sugars weighed separately
- the carrageenan measured
- the aquafaba weighed into the mixer bowl
- a thermometer ready
Keep the three temperatures clear: 121 °C for the sugar syrup, 95 °C before you combine the syrup with the carrageenan mixture, and 80 °C for the carrageenan mixture. The marshmallow process sheet puts the full sequence beside those temperatures.
What should you check when the marshmallow goes wrong?
| What you see | What to check | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The foam falls as the syrup goes in | Syrup still above 95 °C, or poured too fast | Let it cool to 95 °C and drizzle it in a thin stream |
| The slab stays soft and sticky | Syrup pulled before 121 °C | Cook the syrup to 121 °C on a checked thermometer |
| Lumps in the mix | Carrageenan added to the water without the sugar, or not brought to 80 °C | Whisk it in with the sugar and heat to 80 °C |
| The cubes sweat in the tin | Stored while warm, or in a damp place | Cool the slab fully, keep the tin airtight and dry |
| Pale, soft coconut | Under-toasted | The full 8 minutes at 150 °C, fan on |
How do you store the marshmallows?
Let the slab cool completely before you cut it. Once coated, keep the cubes in an airtight tin in a dry place, and do not transfer them to the tin while they are still warm.
