Homemade Raspberry Marshmallows Recipe

Candy making is an interesting sub-section of dessert making that has aspects of chemistry and culinary magic thrown in. While most recipes do require the use of a candy thermometer, the end result is always worth the effort. Store-bought marshmallows pale in comparison to homemade — literally in the case of these vibrant raspberry marshmallows. If you're new to candy making, marshmallow is a fairly easy place to start that is quite forgiving of beginner's errors. If you have the tools and ability to whip sugar with a high-speed mixer, you can make marshmallows.

These particular marshmallows highlight ruby-red summer raspberries. Each square of marshmallow is coated in a tart and tangy raspberry sugar that adds flavor to the marshmallow and provides a bright pink hue to the squares. Though they require a few steps to assemble, these rosy marshmallows are both beautiful and delicious, and once made they can last up to a week when stored at room temperature, ready to be eaten as a sweet treat any time your heart desires. Recipe developer Taylor Murray walks us through the steps to make this fruity candy.

The base ingredients for marshmallows are (typically) a combination of sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin, plus a coating of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Things like a pinch of salt and a splash of vanilla add subtle flavors. These particular marshmallows have raspberry syrup in the marshmallow base and an extra dose of raspberry flavor in the form of blended freeze-dried raspberries added into the coating. The raspberry syrup adds a very mild flavor and color and can be omitted if desired.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together raspberry powder, powdered sugar, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Combine the gelatin and all but 2 tablespoons of the water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, raspberry syrup, salt, vanilla, and remaining 2 tablespoons of water.

Bring to a simmer and cook until the mixture reaches 240 F on a candy thermometer.

With the mixer set on low speed, slowly pour the syrup into the softened gelatin before gradually increasing the mixer speed to high.

Beat until the mixture is opaque and fluffy, about 7 minutes.

While the marshmallow is beating, line a sheet pan with parchment paper and dust it with a layer of the raspberry powder mixture.

Transfer the marshmallow to the prepared pan.

Smooth the top, spreading the marshmallow to the edges.

Dust the top with additional raspberry powder until fully coated.

Let the marshmallow sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

When set, cut the marshmallow into squares.

Dust each square with additional raspberry powder until fully coated.

Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.

This marshmallow recipe calls for raspberry syrup to add raspberry flavor into the candy itself. While this ingredient isn't totally a make-or-break addition (and can be omitted if need be), it's always nice to add layers of flavor from multiple sources when making candy. The syrup used to make this recipe is a raspberry simple syrup, made by simmering 1 cup of sugar with ½ cup of water and 2 cups of raspberries until the raspberries are completely softened, and then straining the pulp out. The result will be a brightly colored tart-sweet syrup that can be used as a base for homemade ice cream, in mixed drinks, and in a variety of other ways if you have any left over.

If making a syrup from scratch isn't something you'd like to do, there are a few workarounds. The raspberry syrup can be substituted with a raspberry liqueur, like Chambord. There are also a few companies that make raspberry syrups to provide a convenient, store-bought solution that requires no effort. Stonewall Kitchen and Monin make two notable options, the latter of which ranked #15 overall on our ranking of all Monin's flavored syrups.

The magic of this candy recipe is in utilizing freeze-dried raspberries to create a dry powder that's bursting with undiluted berry flavor. Freeze-dried fruit has become easier to find and increasingly available at major grocery retailers, often near the raisins or other dehydrated fruit. If you can't find raspberry powder, there are a few options for you. First, the pure powder can be purchased online. You could also buy whole freeze-dried raspberries and process them into a powder. Unfortunately, raspberries that have been dried by the dehydration method cannot be substituted because they lack the texture to break down into powder.

You could always substitute raspberry powder with another type of fruit powder, such as strawberry or passionfruit. If you can't find freeze-dried fruit, you can nix it and add some fruit puree or even a dollop of raspberry jam into the marshmallow base. If you're not in a fruity mood, why not try a different flavor direction altogether? Dried spices like cinnamon and cardamom make great flavor additions to the powdered sugar coating on a fluffy batch of marshmallows.