These citrus-flavored marshmallows look plain on the outside, but one bite reveals a gooey jam-filled marshmallow center. Serve with your favorite hot cocoa or chocolate.
We made it! One near-all-nighter (I still had to get some sleep), a night of pizza and packing with friends, a morning of cleaning help from my dad, and 18 hours of car time later, and we are safely settled at my parents’ place in Minnesota.
I tried to be on top of things before we left Ithaca, and gave all our New York friends their holiday gifts before we left. It felt silly to move everything here with us, only to mail it straight back.
One of our friends requested homemade marshmallows in his gift, since they were his favorite part of last year’s cookie plates. So I made him a cherry-flavored duo: half cherry marshmallows, infused with the syrup from my homemade maraschino cherries (recipe to come!), and half cherry jam-filled marshmallows. I made the outer marshmallows for the jammy ones citrus-flavored, so they are fruity through-and-through.
You guys, these things are amazing. A bit of a pain to make (you have to work pretty quickly so that the marshmallow doesn’t set too much before you can get it all in the mini muffin tins), but definitely worth the effort. They look so unassuming from the outside, but are incredibly impressive once you realize what’s inside. I could also see filling these with a little orange marmalade for a full citrus experience, or a strawberry jam for a different flavor.
These citrus-flavored marshmallows look plain on the outside, but one bite reveals a gooey jam-filled center. Serve with your favorite hot cocoa or chocolate.
Slightly adapted from Marshmallow Madness by Shauna Sever and Alton Brown .
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 cup cold water, divided
- 3- 1/4-ounce envelopes unflavored gelatin
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/3 cup cherry jam
Instructions
- Whisk the powdered sugar and cornstarch together in a small bowl.
- Grease a mini muffin tin, including up the sides of the pan, and heavily dust it with the sugar + cornstarch mix. You should use up about 1/2 of the cornstarch mixture for this.
- Pour the gelatin over 1/2 cup of cold water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Allow to rest, undisturbed, until the gelatin absorbs much of the water.
- Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of water with the sugar, corn syrup and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring constantly, until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, cover the pan, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 3-4 minutes before removing the cover.
- Allow the syrup to boil undisturbed (no stirring!) until a candy thermometer says it is 240F, about 3-5 minutes. Immediately remove the syrup from the heat.
- With the stand mixer running on low, gradually pour the syrup into the gelatin. Increase the speed to high and beat until the marshmallow is thick, lukewarm, white and beginning to lose its shine. Add the orange and almond extracts in the last minute.
- Pour the marshmallow into a piping bag. Pipe to fill the muffin tin halfway.
- Spoon 1/4 teaspoon of jam in to each well of the muffin tin.
- Pipe more marshmallow on top of the jam, and dust with cornstarch/powdered sugar
- Allow to rest uncovered at room temperature for 3-4 hours, or until firm.
Want to make a whole gift basket of homemade marshmallows? Check out these other recipes as well:
- Amaretto marshmallows via Bake at 350
- Chocolate hazelnut marshmallows via Healthy Delicious
- Creamsicle marshmallows
- Earl grey marshmallows via Local Milk
- Maple marshmallows
- Peppermint marshmallows via Blahnik Baker
- Salted caramel bourbon marshmallows via The Kitchy Kitchen
Psst: This post contains affiliate links. I only ever recommend products I truly use and love.
These are so creative, I love it! I hope you’re all settled now and resting before the second wave of moving!
Thank you, they were a lot of fun to make (and eat!). Trying to get caught up on work and get some rest before the movers deliver our things in a few weeks!
This is something I never would have thought of… brilliant!!! So now of course, I want to immediately go and make some!!!!
Enjoy!
My daughter would go absolutely bonkers for these! They are very clever.
Thanks so much, Michelle!
What a fun treat and you could give them away as gifts.
Yes, they went over really well in our gifts this year!
Totally love these – what a fun idea!
Thanks, Lauren!
You TOTALLY went there! Genius!
Thanks!
What a unique and impressive gift! And you’ve found some other intriguing marshmallow recipes on the web. The thing that amazes me, though, is that you made a project like this in the midst of moving!
I was determined to keep things festive even among the craziness- it keeps me calm! 🙂
These are so cute! I adore the jam surprise. 🙂
I love the idea, i tried it but i had a problem with the marshmallows sticking everywhere before i could get them into the piping bag, I guess i must have beaten it for too long?
I’m sorry to hear that! Next time, I’d try beating it for a little less time, as you don’t want it to cool too much. Also, make sure you have your piping bag and mini muffin tin all prepped to go before the marshmallows are done – the marshmallows will start to set pretty rapidly, so you want to get them piped into the tin as quickly as possible. Hope this helps!
I don’t have a whisk attachment now what do I do?