Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Tip #83: Boil Corn Syrup for Marshmallow

Since August 10 is S’mores Day and August 30 is National Toasted Marshmallow Day, we’re providing a quick marshmallow tip today.

Have you had issues with chocolate-covered marshmallows cracking? We’ve got a quick solution for you: boil your corn syrup for the marshmallow to get rid of the yeast. Here’s how it works, according to our expert panel:

Most 42DE corn syrup is contaminated in a small way with yeast bacteria.  It doesn’t affect most products because the yeast is killed when the syrup is cooked above a boil.  The problem comes when you are using it in marshmallow. -  the syrup is added to the bob* after it is removed from the fire and never gets warm enough to kill the bacteria.  To fix this, pre-weight the corn syrup for the marshmallow into a copper kettle and bring it to a very low boil.  Don’t allow it to come to a rolling boil because that would remove too much moisture.  Just as it begins to boil it should be removed from the fire.  Do this early in the day and allow it to cool to room temperature before it is added to cooked portion of the marshmallow.  A fellow candy maker did this and never had a cracked Easter egg again.

*What’s a “bob?” The bob is the sugar slurry that is cooked prior to adding the other ingredients.  Bobs for cooked creams and fudges are pretty much the same - the flavor or texture comes from the added ingredients (i.e. chocolate into chocolate creams, strawberries into strawberry creams, etc.).  Bobs are the basic beginnings for most cooked candies.


This tip was shared during an expert panel at an RCI regional event. Retail Confectioners International has great events just around the corner to help you stay connected! Visit retailconfectioners.org/events for information on our 2013 Fall Regional in Buffalo, New York and 2014 Winter Regional in Barbados this January.