Cherry Guava Marshmallow

I grew up adoring cherry guavas- eating them off the tree in autumn and watching my grandmother make them in to exquisite jelly. The trees are really just shrubs and easily grown, bearing deep red fruit every autumn, that are simply laden with goodness.

The fruit ripens in batches so it's easy to gather up a bowlful at a time to make use of. 

By adding a little over a cupful of water to a pot of guavas and simmering the fruit until the colour has faded from them, you'll soon have a gloriously rich liquid- enough to make a little traditional jelly or even some marshmallow.

How to make guava marshmallow:

1 cup of liquid (as above) 

Add 3 tbsps of good gelatine (I like nutra organics natural gelatin that I buy at Bin Inn) and heat gently to dissolve.

That's a few minutes stirring over low heat in a pot, or 30-40 seconds in  the microwave.

Stir in 1/2 cup of honey and then pour into a bowl that you can use a beater in or use an electric beater if you have one.

Beat until the mixture is pale pink, fluffy and thick.

Pour in to a prepared container quite quickly.

I use a small square slice tin lined with baking paper.

The marshmallow sets fast so within 20 minutes or so you'll be able to turn it out and cut it.

I rub my hands with cornflour as I handle the pieces and then stack them in layers in an airtight container.

They will keep just fine out on the bench until you've eaten them all.

Sweet, but tangy such a delightful food/medicine treat.  

You can now press the cooked berries through a sieve or work them through a moulie disgarding the hard seeds.

You could make this in to guava ice cream, or sweeten and mix it in to some thick Greek yoghurt, or chia seeds and coconut milk to make guava chia pudding. Guava paste takes a bit of work but it is truly the Queen of pastes. You can find that recipe here. 

Catherine X

Sweet Violet Marshmallow

What could lift our spirits more than sweet violet marshmallows, right at the end of winter!

Every year I make violet honey syrup. I would never be without it now as it takes care of almost every sore throat or cough that ever comes our way and tastes delicious.

I've made the syrup already and I was wondering what else I could do with some violets when I thought of marshmallow made with honey.

So here's what I did today: I simply picked a packed cupful of sweet violets (Viola odorata)- the scented ones. Any colour will do. I rinsed the flowers briefly as there is an abundance of pine pollen around at the moment. 

Put the flowers in a small jug and pour over them a cupful of just boiled water- pop a plate over the top and leave them to infuse for around an hour until the colours almost gone out of them. 

Meantime line a small tin with greaseproof paper- hang some over the edge so that it's easy to remove the marshmallow.

Strain the violet liquid in to a pot, add 3 tbsp of a good gelatine and leave it to bloom for a few minutes.

Heat gently (stirring) to dissolve the gelatine.

Then add the juice of a lemon & 1/2 cup of honey and stir to dissolve.

You'll notice the amazing colour transitions of the violet water as you add various things. 

I added 1 tsp of blackcurrant powder to make sure there was enough colour- stir again.

You could use an electric beater, but I don't own one as I love my vintage hand beater.

Beat the mixture until it is pale & fluffy and starting to get really hard to keep going.

Quickly pour in to the container and it will set with in minutes.

Cut with a large knife or scissors when set and roll in fine coconut with a little more blackcurrant (or other) powder rubbed through it and you're done.

The marshmallow is fine kept in a sealed container sitting on the bench.

Next time I think I might try a mix like elderberry. blackberry and violet- delicious and a fabulously easy to take immune support combo.