When we think of marshmallows, almost always the same thing comes to mind: campfire, chocolate, cookies, a white cloud that toasts and melts. But the real history of marshmallow did not begin in a candy factory… but in a marsh, with a viscous and deeply therapeutic medicinal plant: Althaea officinalis, the true marshmallow.

Let’s go back in time to see how a medicinal plant for the throat and stomach became an industrial candy loaded with toxins, and let’s analyze how we can recover its medicinal benefits while enjoying a fluffy, delicious texture.

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) is a Eurasian herbaceous plant, cultivated since ancient times for its medicinal properties. It grows in humid areas of Europe, North Africa and Asia. In Antiquity, especially in Egypt, the root was used to calm coughs, soothe the throat and even help heal wounds. The root was mixed with honey until a thick, sticky paste was obtained, which was reserved, according to some sources, for kings and gods.

In other words: the first “marshmallow” was not a white cloud of sugar, but a sweet medicinal paste of root and honey.

For centuries, the plant remained mainly medicine, and had nothing to do with the little colorful bags at the supermarket.

France and pâte de guimauve: when the pharmacy became a pastry shop

In the 18th–19th centuries, France did what France does best: it turned medicine into high confectionery. French apothecaries and confectioners began whipping marshmallow root extract or decoction with sugar, water and egg whites, sometimes with a bit of gum arabic (acacia fiber) to give it more body.

This fluffy mixture was called pâte de guimauve. It was basically a gummy, unbaked meringue that was flavored with rose water or orange blossom water and dried into bars or lozenges; it was sold as a sweet and, at the same time, as a remedy for cough and throat irritation.

It was a laborious product: extracting the mucilage from the root took at least 12 hours, then boiling it with sugar to the “soft-ball stage,” whipping it with the egg whites, drying it for many hours on each side… A process of at least two days.

Later, gum arabic was added to stabilize the texture better. But there was a problem: gum arabic was expensive, marshmallow root was slow to work with… and the demand for sweets was increasing.

The modern marshmallow: the name stayed, the plant did not

By the end of the 19th century, the industrialization of this sweet replaced marshmallow root with gelatin (cheaper, more stable). They began to use the starch mogul system, in which trays of modified cornstarch were pressed with a mold to create cavities in the starch. Then those cavities were filled with the marshmallow mixture and left to cool or set. Later came the extrusion system, where the mass was pushed through tubes, cut into cylinders and packaged.

Sadly, the marshmallow plant and its medicinal purposes disappeared completely from the equation, leaving us today with an industrial candy made from corn syrup, dextrose, genetically modified starches, preservatives, colorings and flavorings. We can say that, from being a medicinal sweet, it became a sweet poison.

Back to the root: what makes marshmallow root medicinal

The truly medicinal part of Althaea officinalis is in its root, which is very rich in mucilages—acidic polysaccharides of high molecular weight, soluble in water. You can imagine them as long chains of complex sugars (galacturonic acid, rhamnose, glucose, etc.) that, when hydrated, form a thick, slippery gel.

This “gel” coats and protects the mucous membranes of the throat, esophagus and stomach; it helps calm dry cough, acidity, gastric burning and is also used in formulas for the urinary and digestive systems, where it acts as a gentle coating on inflamed surfaces.

In herbal medicine it is called a demulcent plant: a sort of internal balm that does not force the body, but rather envelops and calms it.

Cold vs. heat: what happens to the mucilages

It’s like when you cook something very delicate: if you use too much heat, it gets ruined. Laboratory studies have shown that if you heat the root to about 60 °C for several hours, you extract a large amount of these polysaccharides; but if you go over 70 °C and boil it hard, those fibers begin to break down and the gel loses part of its texture and its soothing effect.

That’s why herbalists leave the root in cold or lukewarm water for several hours, so it swells slowly and forms a thick liquid, less bitter and better able to maintain its medicinal properties.

In other words, if what you want is the maximum “protective gel,” the star method is a long cold maceration, and not boiling it as if it were any regular tea.

The historical dilemma: was pâte de guimauve really medicinal?

Let’s analyze the recipe for pâte de guimauve. The idea with this recipe was to achieve a very fluffy and stable texture, and for that the process was as follows: first the mucilage was extracted from the marshmallow root (often using heat), then it was cooked with sugar to the “soft-ball stage” (around 115–121 °C), that boiling syrup was poured over whipped egg whites while beating, and then it was left to dry for many hours.

From the texture side, perfect: the partially degraded mucilage helped stabilize the egg white foam, acted as a natural gum and left a smooth sensation in the throat. But from the medicinal side, those high temperatures with concentrated sugar broke many mucilage chains, made the gel less thick and reduced its ability to form that protective film so characteristic of it.

The result: pâte de guimauve still soothed the throat a bit and kept its reputation as “good for the chest,” but it no longer had all the benefits obtained when the root is prepared in a cold maceration. In short, it was a middle point: a hybrid between medicine and candy.

Can we achieve a marshmallow that is delicious and also truly medicinal?

My goal is to create a version of this sweet that meets all the requirements: that it be medicinal, but also delicious and with a perfect little-cloud texture. So for this recipe I want to combine several ingredients that support the respiratory and immune systems. For this we are going to use elderberries (support the immune system in colds and flu, powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories), echinacea (has an immunostimulating effect, helps reduce the duration and intensity of colds), ginger (anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, helps with digestion) and our star ingredient, marshmallow root.

Now we already know that the mucilage in marshmallow root is better preserved at gentle temperatures, while other plants such as elderberry, echinacea or ginger do need heat to release their compounds.

So the idea is to separate functions: use heat only for those other herbs, and leave the marshmallow root in a long cold maceration, without boiling it, then incorporating it into the meringue/gelatin mixture once it is already cool.

If we also use real sweeteners such as maple syrup, a good grass-fed gelatin for structure, and extracts of fruits and roots that support the immune system, the marshmallow stops being just a nostalgic candy and becomes a high-protein sweet with medicinal properties. Shall we go to the recipe?

Medicinal Marshmallows

Ingredients

For the infusions:

40 g dried elderberries

20 g dried echinacea root

15 g fresh grated ginger

750 ml water

30 g marshmallow root

For the marshmallow:

300 g pure maple syrup

30 g grass-fed gelatin powder

2 egg whites at room temperature

10 g acacia fiber

¼ tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare an 8 x 8 inch pan with parchment paper and dust it with arrowroot on top.
2. Place the dried elderberries, echinacea, grated ginger and filtered water in a pot. Bring to a boil, cover and lower the heat to a minimum, letting the mixture simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool completely.
3. Strain the preparation and separate 195 g of this infusion into a glass, where you will add the marshmallow root. Mix well and let it rest for at least 12 hours to extract the mucilages from the marshmallow.
4. Once the mucilages have been extracted, strain the preparation well and to this viscous liquid add the gelatin powder in a sprinkling motion, stirring well. Let it hydrate.
5. In another pot place 200 g of the initial herbal infusion (if you have infusion left over, drink it hot as a little tea), add the maple syrup and, in a sprinkling motion and stirring constantly, add the acacia fiber until dissolved.
6. Bring this mixture to a medium heat cook until it reaches a temperature between 235 and 239 °F.
7. Meanwhile, place the two egg whites at room temperature and the cream of tartar in the bowl of the mixer and beat until stiff peaks form.
8. In another pot place hot water and on top (as a bain-marie) place the bowl with the hydrated gelatin so that it dissolves slowly. Remember it should not exceed 60 °C to maintain the medicinal properties of the marshmallow root.
9. When the temperature of the maple syrup mixture reaches 235 °F, pour it in a thin stream into the mixer bowl while the egg whites continue beating at maximum speed.
10. Continue beating until the mixture comes to room temperature; this will take a few minutes.
11. Once the mixture is at room temperature (so as not to affect the mucilages of the marshmallow), and without stopping the mixer, slowly add the dissolved gelatin mixture (remember, it is important that the gelatin has dissolved completely) and continue beating until fully incorporated. Here you can add the vanilla extract or some other flavoring; you can even use rose water or orange blossom water, as was used in the original recipe.
12. Pour the preparation into the pan and smooth the surface so that it is even.
13. Let your marshmallows dry for at least 12 hours.
14. Dust a bit more arrowroot on top and unmold.
15. Cut the marshmallow cubes with scissors and roll them in arrowroot on all sides; this will prevent them from sticking to each other.
16. Store them in a glass container in the fridge for several days.

Notes

If you find the flavor a bit bitter, you could slightly reduce the amount of echinacea.

If you are like me and don’t like very sweet things, you can reduce the amount of maple syrup a bit; it could be 230–250 g.