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Zephyr is a type of Russian homemade marshmallows recipe. These tasty confections are fluffy and literally just melt in your mouth. Learn how to make these homemade marshmallows with the easy video tutorial.
I have been working on perfecting this recipe for some time and these have the right fluffy consistency using real ingredients (no jell-o needed), and they have intense blackberry-lemon flavor. P.S. that beautiful pinky-purple hue is all natural from fresh blackberries and makes these completely irresistible!
The closest thing I could compare zephyr to are gourmet marshmallows. These are lightyears better than store-bought marshmallows and are stunning on party dessert tables. Think: showers, birthdays, tea parties, etc. Zephyr is the first thing people eye on a dessert table because it’s just so pretty!
This blackberry-leon zephir recipe was modified from Air Cake on youtube.
Watch How to Make Homemade Marshmallows:
This recipe is simple, but it is important to follow the process and have precise measurements. I have included all of my best tips to make sure you are successful the first time and every time!
*Watch our easy video tutorial on how to measure correctly
Ingredients for Blackberry Puree:
2 cups (or 8 oz or 250 grams) blackberries
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 egg white, room temperature
For the Agar Agar Syrup:
1/3 cup (75 ml) water
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
2 tsp (5 grams) agar agar*
Powdered Sugar to dust
*Agar agar us a plant based thickener that works similarly to traditional unflavored pork-derived gelatin. It is kosher-friendly and doesn’t add any aroma or flavor especially when heated which is awesome!! It is available in natural and health-food stores like Rosauers, Whole foods and is reasonably priced on Amazon.
How to Make Homemade Marshmallows (Zephyr):
1. In a medium saucepan, bring blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp lemon juice to a simmer. Mash berries and simmer uncovered 10 min then strain through fine sieve, pressing on solids with a spatula. Scrape the back of the sieve to get 1/2 cup or 125 grams of puree. Chill the puree over an ice bath until cooled.
2. Once puree is chilled and slightly thickened, combine it with 1 egg white in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk.** Beat 8-10 min on high speed or until thick and stiff peaks form. While the blackberry/egg white mixture is whipping, proceed with step 3.
3. In a medium sauce pan, combine 1/3 cup water, 2 tsp agar agar and 1 cup sugar. Place over medium heat, bring to boil then reduce heat to a low boil and cook 5 min, whisking constantly until syrup has thickened and pours from a spoon without dribbling. Remove from heat.
4. With mixer on the LOWEST speed, and as soon as agar syrup is off the stove, immediately pour it in a thin stream into the whipped blackberry mixture. Avoid getting syrup on whisk and bowl. Scrape down the bowl and beat another 2-3 minutes on high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. Right away, transfer to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M large open star tip and pipe roses onto parchment-lined baking sheet, keeping them even in width/size.
6. Let stand in a draft free, low humidity, room temperature (70˚F) area, uncovered 6-12 hours, or overnight. Marshmallows will form a glossy film on top and will come off the parchment fairly easily, then match 2 halves together and roll sandwiched marshmallows in powdered sugar.
⬇ Print-Friendly Marshmallows Recipe (Zephyr) Recipe:
Homemade Marshmallows (Zephyr) VIDEO
Ingredients
For the Blackberry Puree:
- 2 cups or 8 oz or 250 grams blackberries
- 1/2 cup 100 grams granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 egg white, room temperature
For the Agar Agar Syrup:
- 1/3 cup 75 ml water
- 1 cup 200 grams sugar
- 2 tsp 5 grams agar agar*
- Powdered Sugar to dust
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, bring blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp lemon juice to a simmer. Mash berries and simmer uncovered 10 min then strain through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids with a spatula. Scrape off the back of the sieve to ensure you have 1/2 cup or 125 grams of puree. Chill the puree over an ice bath until cooled.
- Once puree is fully chilled and slightly thickened, combine it with 1 egg white in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment.** Beat on 8-10 min on high speed or until mixture is thick and stiff peaks form. While the blackberry/egg white mixture is going, proceed with step 3.
- In a medium sauce pan, stir together 1/3 cup water, 2 tsp agar agar and 1 cup sugar. Place over medium heat, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low boil and cook 5 minutes, whisking constantly until syrup has thickened and pours from a spoon without dribbling. Remove from heat.
- With the mixer on the LOWEST speed, and as soon as agar syrup is off the stove, immediately pour it in a thin stream into whipped blackberry mixture. Avoid getting syrup on whisk and bowl. Once syrup is in, scrape down the bowl and beat another 2-3 min on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Right away, transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M large open star tip and pipe roses onto parchment-lined baking sheet, keeping the roses even in width/size.
- Let homemade marshmallows stand in a draft free, low humidity, room temperature area (70˚F), uncovered for 6-12 hours, or overnight. Marshmallows will form a glossy film on top and will come off the parchment fairly easily. Once set, match 2 halves together then roll sandwiched marshmallows powdered sugar.
Notes
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Regarding the use of raw egg whites: Always use eggs that have a whole, un-cracked shell from a trustworthy source. This method is similar to an Italian Buttercream where adding the hot syrup partially tempers the egg white, but if you want to take extra caution especially if pregnant or elderly, you can try using pasteurized egg whites, although from my research, it may take longer to beat the mixture if egg white is pasteurized.
I hope you all love these and find the video tutorial helpful! If you make these (or any recipes from my site), I now have an awesome new spot where my readers can share their yummy photos! You’re invited to join my closed VIP cooking group on Facebook!
Can I use gelatin instead of agar agar ?
Hi Olga, I have only tried agar agar and also have never come across a recipe for this using gelatin so I can’t really guess if it would work and what the changes in process would need to be.
I keep failing this recipe
Hi Inna, I would suggest watching the full length video tutorial in the recipe above and seeing where the consistency of your zephyr is different than what is shown in the video. It might give you a hint as to what might be happening – maybe a modification of some kind is being made? It is really difficult to say what could be going wrong without any additional info, but I am happy to help troubleshoot.
Natasha, may I ask what kind of piping bag and tips are you using? I used my cheap ones in one of your cake recipes, and I couldn’t make decorative cake flowers. Thank you !
Hi Luda, I use a set of 3 large tips for pretty much everything and a large pastry bag. I have these items listed in the shop section of my blog.
If I Double recipe,do I need to double time too?
Hi Svitlana, I have not tried doubling it so I’m not sure if you would double the time throughout the recipe. You won’t need to double it for baking though. I am using a 6Qt stand mixer and the bowl was pretty full with the mixture – I think doubling it would overwhelm the mixer. It may be safer to make the recipe twice. Has anyone else tried doubling the recipe? Please share your experience and thanks in advance! 🙂
Hi Natasha! I have some frozen blackberries. It hasn’t been cooked thou. Can I just get the juice out and then follow the recipe? Or should I still use fresh fruit as per the recipe? Just want to make sure it turns out properly.
Thanks a lot
Hi Lena, you can use frozen-thawed and use them as usual in the recipe.
Hi Natasha,
If I don’t have a stand mixer, can I use a hand mixer?
Hi Masha, yes that will work, please see the notes on that at the bottom of the print-friendly recipe which should help 🙂
I made these and they were awesome! Only they never got a glossy film on top. Was it because my syrup didn’t really pour without dribbling from a spoon? Or because it wasn’t fully stiff peaks? Actually the mixture turned to almost soft peaks very fast. It didn’t get off the parchment paper fairly easily, too. It was still tasted good.
Hi Olga, it could be both. I would suggest following the timings in the recipe and see if that helps. I’m glad you still enjoyed them! 🙂
I’ve made those before and they were heavenly :)how long can I store them? Wondering how long in advance can I make them for party?
Hi Katie, I think they are best enjoyed within 2 to 3 days of making them before they start to get a little dry.
Is there a way to do these to make them blue ? I was going to do for a boys baby shower.
Hi Carra, I haven’t tried anything else that would give a blue hue. One of my readers wrote in with her experience trying to do the same thing with blueberries: “I made mine with blueberries today, they turned out just as nice but they were more of a deeper purple than the blackberry ones and less of a blue like you would think.” Sorry I can’t be more help, but at least we know blueberries won’t work 😉 Maybe someone else has some insight into how to make them blue? Thanks in advance friends!! 🙂
Many thanks for this excellent recipe! I’ve just finished 30 of these for my son’s class at school and they turned out just as in the video (although a little smaller). Really easy to make and a skin formed overnight so easy to remove from baking sheet (dust fingers though) and stick together. I used an icing sugar, cornflower mix (half-half) to coat them which tends to remain less sticky than just icing sugar. By the way, we use agar agar strands (5gm as in recipe), which need soaking for 10 minutes first but are quite cheap from asian shops.
You’re welcome Geoff! I’m happy to hear you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for sharing your tips and review with other readers!
Could I substitute blueberries for the blackberries?
Hi Denae, I haven’t tried that but one of my readers, Tanya, shared some very good insights on that substitution: “I made mine with blueberries today, they turned out just as nice but they were more of a deeper purple than the blackberry ones and less of a blue like you would think. Also instead of putting the blueberry mixture through a sieve I put it in a mini food processor & pulsed it really well. This turned out better than putting it through a sieve because blueberry seeds are much smaller than blackberry ones plus I wasn’t getting much syrup through the sieve process. You can also skip the ice water bath after pulsing it because it’s thick enough ( or at least mine was). Everything else I did the same. Just one more tip, once your agar agar mixture is thick enough IMMEDIATELY remove from the heat and pour into mixing bowl, I walked away for 30 seconds and came back it was ruined had to trash it. Thanks for such a delicious recipe!”
How long can they last (freshness/taste wise) and do you refrigerate them in a closed container? I want to make them for an event in advance. Thanks
Hi Alina, I have enjoyed them up to 3 days after making. Maybe they could last longer but I haven’t maxed them out further. I kept them in an airtight container at room temperature (low humidity area)
Hi, Natasha. I intend to try the recipe today, but I need them in two days after the 12 hrs of drying them. How do I keep them? Should I cover them lightly or put them in the airtight container? I usually keep the store bought zephyr well covered, otherwise they dry out. Thank you
You can cover them with plastic wrap after they are dusted with powdered sugar or put them in an airtight container and keep them in a low humidity room temperature area.
Taste really good. I used gelatin instead of the agar and they turned out exactly like the store bought marshmallows texture wise, but the fruity flavor made it even better. Not exactly like zephyr, but that could be because they are so fresh. Also they solidified even with the 90 degree temperature inside (dry heat though) and over 100 degrees outside. Thank you Natasha. Also I pasteurized the egg first.
I’m glad to hear you enjoy the recipe Mariya! Thanks for sharing your review and tips with other readers!
This is quite attractive! when I prepared mine it was a bit dark. Don’t know which ingredient was too much.
I’m guessing it probably was adding too much blackberry syrup since that is the only thing that really gives it any color.
Hi Natasha, made these goodies on Saturday, and for some reason it’s already 2nd day and they still “sticky”. We keep house 73F over night, but i assume VA weather is enough humid on summer for them not to get dry :(. will be trying them on Fall definitely. 🙂
Hi Marina, it is ok for them to be slightly sticky, especially with high humidity. You can still try to roll them in powdered sugar and see if that solves the stickiness problem 🙂
I am trying these for the first time ever. I the recipe was easier than I thought it would be. I substituted unflavored gelatin for the powered agar agar. I hope they will work as well. 😀
Please let me know how they turned out Laura!
Laura,
Unfortunately, gelatin will not replace the stabilizing properties of agar-agar. I buy it online from Barry Farms because I use it in my Mock Whip Frostings, all my Buttercreams (because of the high butter content – and I set up cakes in tents on islands), meringues, and in stabilized whipped cream. I believe there are other sources, like Amazon. My local Health Ford Store carries agar- agat, but the price is outrageous for a very small amount.
I love these. I’ve never thought of making with blackberries. When I pipe mine out I like to bury the tails underneath, like doing a cake covered with rosettes.
I love that idea also! Thanks for sharing 🙂
This zephyr is awesome! Tastes exactly as the one I had as a child, simple ingredients and easy to make! I have one wish, would be great if you could include calories intake along with receipts of all your deserts)))
I’m so happy to hear how much you love the recipe Irina! Due to time constraints, I don’t typically include nutritional info, but check out this nutrition analyzer – you can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you!
Hi Natasha. 🙂 i already made these twice. The first time they took about two days to dry, but they were really good. The second time though they turned powdery, not at all what zephyr is supposed to be like. Could i have whipped the mixture too long? Or what else could be the reason? I used exact measurements.
Hi Lena, are you living in a humid area? Also, are you keeping them uncovered at room temperature (about 70˚F). 2 days is a long time for these to dry. I’m not sure why they would turn powdery though – I haven’t had that happen before. Maybe someone else has some insight into that?