I was watching the food network today "sweet dreams"
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/rec...6_17672,00.html
and she was making marshmallow footballs to put in hot chocolate while tailgating.

anyway I have been wanting lc marshmallows and cant find them in the store so I wonder if subbing granular erythritol and davinci syrup would work in place of the sugar and light syrup in the following recipe.

any help would be appreciated:

Marshmallow Footballs:
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Make the marshmallows: Combine the water, the corn syrup, and the sugar in a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil and boil to "soft-ball" stage, or about 235 degrees F.


Meanwhile, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 tablespoons water and let sponge.

When the syrup reaches 235 degrees F, remove it from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix. Pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff. Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper then sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Pour the marshmallow onto the pan and spread it out. Let cool about 2 hours then with a pair of scissors dipped in cornstarch, cut out football shapes.

The soft-ball stage is based on the chemistry of the sugar and corn syrup. I would not expect the same result using a sugar alcohol and LC syrup.

You could try it and see what happens. It wouldn't cost much and might work or give a useful product of some sort.

I found this recipe for marshmallows a few months back...haven't tried it yet, but it looked both interesting and do-able:

http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/recipe...sertmisc04.html

thanks that looks like its worth a try also.
it is similar to part of the steps in the 1 I listed also.

If you have access to Shugr you can make mock corn syrup with it and cream of tartar. I still havent gotten the carb counts yet.

If I remember, Shugr is just erythritol and flavoring so your saying granular erythritol and cream of tartar will work?

nm i see it has other stuff in it.....its tuff when you get old.....lol

Where's Scott?
Surely there's some kind of PolyD alchemy that can make this thing happen.

What would be great is a recipe for homemade marshmallows like the ones at City Bakery in NYC.

What would be even better is to figure out a sugarfree version of their unbelievable hot chocolate. That stuff is worth interstate travel.

scott had this to say on another site.

this person had a similar suggestion to MyJourney with the cream of tatar.

lol I think I'm armed with enough to experiment with now

Thanks all!

shugr is erythritol, tagatose, maltodextrin and .0005% sucralose.

It cooks EXACTLY like sugar. It will make a simple syrup. I have never cooked with straight erythritol but from what I heard it isnt exactly like sugar.

Kevin, erythritol will not work in that recipe. At least not by itself or with Davincis. With most desserts the goal is to replace the sweetness AND the texture of sugar. Because of the candymaking aspect of marshmallows there's one more aspect to consider. Replacing the crystallization inhibiting qualities of the corn syrup. Crystallization is great for something grainy like fudge, but it's horrible for marshmallows. Erythritol will initially dissolve with heat but as your marshmallows cool it will re-crystallize and you'll end up with sandy puffs. Bad news

Erythritol crystallizes easier than sugar. A lot easier. Davinci's is just gum thickened sweet water. No crystallization inhibiting there. Together they are a recipe for disaster.

You might want to take a look at Criosa's follow-up regarding her erythritol syrup:



Campfire or not, attempts to re-melt the erythritol in your marshmallows could get pretty sketchy. Granular erythritol has a cooling effect while dissolved erythritol possesses none. Because of the re-crystallization, not only will you end up with sandy/gritty marshmallows, but they'll have an incredibly strong cooling effect.

Shugr won't work in this recipe either nor will it work in a mock corn syrup. It will create a passable, somewhat watery simple syrup with an appropriate level of sweetness, but as you approach the viscosity of corn syrup it will:

1. Be too sweet (in comparison to the real thing)
2. Start crystallizing/go sandy from the erythritol/tagatose

Maltodextrin is a crystallization inhibitor. Erythritol, on the other hand, is a crystallization fiend. In the presence of a substantial amount of water (simple syrup) the maltodextrin might be able to prevent crystals from forming, but when that water content decreases, it doesn't stand a chance. At least not in the quantities of this formula.

Tagatose, by the way, crystallizes easily:



Regarding cream of tartar... Sugar is a disaccharide. It contains two simple sugars, fructose and glucose. In the presence of an acid, sugar breaks down into these individual components and is inverted. Inverting turns it into a liquid, non crystalline form (a la corn syrup) suitable for candymaking (marshmallows). Erythritol, on the other hand, is a single entity. It has no components to break down into. It is what it is. Add as much cream of tartar to it as you want and it will still be erythritol. It will still crystallize in a heartbeat.

Now that I've covered all of the ingredients that won't make sf marshmallows, here's one that will. Polyd, because of it's anti-crystalline behavior/candymaking abilities makes the definitive sugar free marshmallow (and faux corn syrup as well). And I'm not saying this because it's my recipe Any polyd marshmallow recipe will beat the pants off of either the sugar alcohol versions or the non bulked ones that use splenda only.

Polyd Marshmallows

1 packet knox gelatin
2 T. cold water

1/2 C. water
1 C. polyD
1 T. Erythritol
8 drops splenda (1/3 C. sweetening equivalent)
3/16 t Sweet One brand Ace K (or 1 1/4 t. sugar equivalent of stevia)
1/32 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
Dusting sweetener (see below)
Marshmallow oil (optional)

1. Lightly butter a large pyrex custard cup and coat with dusting sweetener (see below).

2. In the bowl of a Kitchen Aid type mixer, quickly stir gelatin into 2 T. water. Set aside for 10 minutes.

3. Combine sweeteners, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan; clip on a candy thermometer; place over high heat. Cook syrup, stirring constantly, until it reaches 270 deg. (hard-ball stage). Immediately remove pan from heat.

4. With mixer with whisk attachment on low speed, slowly and carefully pour syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase speed to high; beat until mixture is very thick and white and has almost tripled in volume, about 15 minutes. Add vanilla/marshmallow flavoring; beat to incorporate.

5. Scrape mixture into pyrex cup, sprinkle with dusting sweetener and carefully pat flat. Dust with more sweetener; let stand overnight, uncovered, to dry out. Turn out onto a board; cut marshmallows with a dry hot knife into 1 1/2-inch squares, and dust with sweetener on the exposed edges.

Dusting sweetener

2 T. maltitol
1/4 t. xanthan gum

Blend to a very fine powder.

Notes:

This is based upon Martha Stewarts recipe for marshmallows except with a higher temp for the syrup. Sugar reaches the hard ball stage around 250 but with polyd it's closer to 270.

Once the gelatin hits the water, it will solidify in a second or two. The trick is to dump the packet into the water and give it a quick stir to make sure there are no clumps and that all the gelatin is submerged.

I chose maltitol as a coating for it's lack of cooling effect. Erythritol could probably be used here, but since it will be coating the exterior, the initial sensation after biting into these might be strange. These marshmallows shouldn't require too much dusting to be tack free. Also, for those that are a little more liberal with their carbs, 1/4 t. corn starch could be subbed for the xanthan with better results.

It's very difficult to get all the hot syrup out of the saucepan, as it has a tendency to cool as you're pouring it. I find that if you tilt the pan on the burner at an angle so the syrup heats the side and then pour the syrup into the gelatin using that angle, less will stick to the saucepan. In other words, you begin the action of pouring the syrup while it's still on the burner. That way the syrup has less distance to travel.

This recipe might be able to be done with a regular hand mixer but I sort of doubt it. Besides taking 15 minutes to achieve the right consistency, the final consistency is very thick and might put a cheap hand mixer out of commission. Also, this isn't one of those recipes that can be eyeballed for temperature. A candy thermometer is essential.

If a grocery store marshmallow taste is your goal, a drop or two of marshmallow oil is recommended.

Thank you scott.

Just 1 question just out of curiosity, why polyd and not polyd plus?

Scott123, I AM impressed--are you a food chemist? I wish I could remember all of those important details!!! Thanks-I'm going to have to make paper copies.

Kevinpa--I'm not Scott, my guess is it's because the extra sweeteners in the Plus complicate the math of figuring out the sweetness level when you account for synergy.

And I also think it takes a level of control away from you--it's easy enough to mix your own but if one of the elements in your arsenal has a fixed ratio, it's tougher to work around that.