Homemade Marshmallow Cream Recipe

To make marshmallow cream, whip 3 egg whites with cream of tartar to soft peaks, boil sugar, corn syrup and water to 240°F (115°C), then pour the hot syrup into the whites and beat on high for 6 to 8 minutes until thick, glossy and holding stiff peaks. It takes about 20 minutes and makes about 3 cups of homemade marshmallow creme, the same kind of spread sold as marshmallow fluff.

The one number that matters is 240°F. Pull the syrup too early and the cream stays soupy. Go much higher and it turns chewy, with sugar threads through the bowl.

Marshmallow Cream Ingredients and What Each One Does

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature: the body of the cream. Warm whites whip faster and higher than cold ones, so set the eggs out while you gather everything else.
• ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar: cooked into the syrup that sets the foam.
• ½ cup (160 g) light corn syrup: keeps the sugar from crystallizing and gives the shine. It is also why the cream stays soft and spreadable instead of setting like a marshmallow.
• ¼ cup water: dissolves the sugar so it heats evenly.
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar: steadies the whites, so they hold their air while the hot syrup goes in.
• Pinch of salt and 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract: salt cuts the sweetness a little and vanilla gives the clean flavor a jar never quite has.

You also need a stand mixer with a whisk, a heavy bottomed saucepan and a candy thermometer. A thin pan heats in hot spots, and the syrup can scorch at the edges before the center reaches temperature.

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Cooking the Sugar Syrup to 240°F

First, check the thermometer in a pot of boiling water. At sea level it should read 212°F; if it reads 210°F, aim for 238°F instead of 240°F. At altitude, water boils at a lower temperature, so take about 1°F off the target for every 500 feet above sea level. No thermometer? Drop a little syrup into a glass of cold water. At the right stage it forms a soft ball that flattens when you lift it out.

Wipe the mixer bowl and whisk with a paper towel dipped in vinegar or lemon juice. Any grease, or one speck of yolk, keeps the whites from whipping. Add the whites and cream of tartar and whip on medium for 3 to 4 minutes, until soft peaks form. Stop the mixer. Let them wait.

In the saucepan, stir the sugar, corn syrup, water and salt just until combined. Clip on the thermometer and heat over medium without stirring. Stirring once it boils is how sugar crystals form, and they make the finished cream grainy. If you see crystals on the side of the pan, brush them down with a wet pastry brush.

Stay with the pan. The syrup climbs slowly through the 220s and then jumps from about 230°F to 250°F in a minute or two.

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Pouring Hot Syrup Into the Egg Whites

Go slow here. Turn the mixer back on low and pour the syrup in a thin, steady stream down the side of the bowl, away from the whisk. Syrup that hits the whisk gets flung onto the cold bowl wall, where it hardens into threads that never mix back in.

When all the syrup is in, turn the mixer to high and beat for 6 to 8 minutes. You will see it go from thin and foamy to white, thick and shiny, and the outside of the bowl cools from hot to just warm. Add the vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds.

With a hand mixer the pour is harder, because you need one hand for the mixer and one for a pan of very hot syrup. Set the bowl on a damp towel so it does not spin, and ask someone to pour if you can. If you plan to turn the cream into marshmallow buttercream frosting, let it cool to room temperature first so it does not melt the butter.

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How Thick Marshmallow Cream Should Look When Done

Watch the bowl, not the clock. Lift the whisk. The peak should stand up straight or curl just at the tip, and a spatula pulled through the bowl leaves a glossy white ribbon that holds its shape. It should spread on a cake layer without sliding and pipe with clean edges.

This is the same hot syrup and egg white method behind Italian buttercream and 7 minute frosting. Italian buttercream goes on to take butter, and 7 minute frosting is whisked over steam. Here the corn syrup keeps the cream soft, sticky and spoonable.

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Fixing Runny, Grainy or Stringy Marshmallow Creme

• Soupy after 8 minutes of beating: the syrup was under 240°F, or there was a trace of yolk or grease in the bowl. Keep beating for a few more minutes. If it still will not thicken, there is no rescue for the whites; use it as a cocoa topping and start a fresh batch with a clean bowl.
• Hard sugar threads in the bowl: the syrup hit the whisk or was poured too fast. Lift the threads out with a fork. The rest is fine.
• Grainy texture: the syrup was stirred while boiling or crystals fell in from the pan side. Next time, stop stirring once it boils and brush the pan walls with water.
• Dry, chewy or breaking into clumps: the syrup went well past 240°F. Calibrate the thermometer and pull it right on target.
• A little liquid at the bottom after a few days in the fridge: this is normal weeping. Whip it for 30 seconds and it comes back together.

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Homemade Marshmallow Cream vs Melted Marshmallows vs a Jar of Fluff

Marshmallow Fluff is a brand of marshmallow creme, and the store versions are built on the same base as this recipe: egg white, sugar and corn syrup. The difference? A jar is shelf stable. Homemade cream made with fresh whites lives in the fridge.

Many people search for how to make marshmallow cream with marshmallows. You can melt bagged marshmallows over low heat with a spoonful of corn syrup and stir until smooth. Quicker, yes, and no thermometer. But the result is stickier and denser, and it firms up as it cools, so it will not stay soft between cake layers or in a whoopie pie. Save it for topping hot cocoa or a warm dip you serve right away.

For recipes that call for a 7 ounce jar of marshmallow creme, such as old fashioned fudge, use about 2 cups of this. One batch covers a jar with some to spare.

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Where to Use Marshmallow Cream Filling

Spread it between chocolate cake layers, such as this sour cream chocolate cake, and torch the top for a s’mores finish. Pipe it into whoopie pies or between soft cookies, or use it in place of the jar in Nutella marshmallow cookies. Or use it as the start of a quick marshmallow frosting.

A spoonful on a mug of homemade hot chocolate melts into a sweet foam. Beaten with cream cheese, it becomes a fruit dip. For a richer, custard style cake filling instead, try diplomat cream.

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How Long Homemade Marshmallow Cream Keeps

Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Cold cream stiffens a little. Whip it briefly before using. I do not freeze it. It turns watery as it thaws.

The hot syrup heats the whites, but this is not a cooked meringue in the food safety sense. If you are serving it to anyone who avoids raw eggs, use pasteurized eggs in the shell.

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Marshmallow Creme Quick Answers

Is marshmallow cream the same as marshmallow fluff?

Yes. Marshmallow cream, marshmallow creme and marshmallow fluff are the same soft, spreadable egg white and sugar syrup mixture. Fluff is a brand name.

Can I make marshmallow creme without corn syrup?

Not with this recipe. The corn syrup stops the sugar from crystallizing and keeps the cream soft. Without it, the syrup is more likely to turn grainy.

Why did my marshmallow cream turn runny the next day?

Usually the syrup was a few degrees short of 240°F, so the foam was not fully set. A little weeping is normal; whip it for 30 seconds before using.