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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!
Hello Natasha I wanted to ask, how far advance can these be done?
Hi Inna, you can store these at room temperature in an airtight container (like Tupperware) for 2-3 says in a low humidity area.
Natasha , I’ve never thought I’d score them from first time ! But today I did it ! Hahа 😃👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Made double portion and I’ve mixed black currants and blackberries together . It’s jsut heavenly! Can’t wait when they ready to go 🙈👏🏼❤️Thank you for delicious recipe !!!!
You’re so welcome! I’m so happy you loved that!
Hi Natasha, I was wondering can I substitute lemon juice in bottle from the natural one?
Hey there Svetlana, I love it fresh lemon juice but that should work okay.
Very silly question do you use the fruit that’s left in the sieve or what passes throughout the drive? Thank you.
Hi Ogis, You can repurpose it and serve it with pancakes or over ice cream. It is very tasty 🙂
Hi Natasha, I made these with my sister last night and this morning they taste delicious! Much, much better than store bought. I was wondering if lemon would be a good substitute? Do I need to cook it a little longer maybe? Thanks
Hey there Yana! Are you looking to omit the blackberries and substitute that for lemon? This recipe already calls for 1 tbsp of lemon.
Hi Natasha,
Do you really need 7 hours for prep?
Thanks,
Diana
Hi Diana. That time is just letting the marshmallows rest. It’s not really preparation time at all.
Hi Natasha,
Is there anyway to make these plain white color?
Hi Michael! You would have to omit the Blackberries and alter the recipe a bit to make these white. 🙂
Bake tart apple quarters at 380 for about 25 minutes. (Skin on). Chill overnight in fine mesh sieve over a bowl in the fridge. Puree with a hand blender, and push through the fine mesh sieve. use same amount instead of the blackberry puree.
Hello!I live in UK and here is a lot of humidity.What can I do to help the recipe if I can’t have low humidity in the room?Thank you!!!
Hi Flory, I’m honestly not sure in that situation since there is risk that the meringue will not beat up properly and the finished marshmallows need time to dry on the outside. If it is humid, it would be difficult to achieve those results.
Maybe someone else has experience making these in high humidity? Please let us know!
Refrigerator covered on bottom shelf. Cheesecloth or cotton towel doubled works. Well it does with regular marshmellow and l live in high humidity qld aust. Maybe this might be slightly different, as l havent made it yet?
Hi
A bit late, but where I live there is also high humidity.. There was no problem beating up the meringue. I let it rest overnight but it was still sticky.. So I put it in the oven around 30°C and after that it was great!
Thank you for sharing that!
Question – can these be dusted with powdered sugar right after piping or they won’t set properly?
Hi Natasha! They are much easier to handle once they set and the skin forms, help keep the shape also. Once it is set, they come off fairly easily from the parchment. If you experiment with a few please let me know how you like the outcome.
Hi, just for everyone’s information, if you are using agar agar flakes, use three times the amount as stated in the recipe for powder 🙂
Thank you for sharing that with us Kay 😀
After I poured the agar syrup the consistency of the meringue thinned out (before I had very stiff peaks). So it was hard to pipe and the rosettes went flat.
I made this using agar flakes, could that have been the problem? Unfortunately I didn’t read this post until after I was done.
Hello,
I would like to know if I can make this using strawberries? Would all the measurements stay the same?
They look really delicious and I would like to make them for my son’s birthday party, he loves strawberries!
Thank you!
Hello Irene, I haven’t tried it myself but I have had readers report great results substituting with strawberries.
Hi. i’m trying to measure agar and for me 1 tsp is 5 mg so i’m not sure if I need to put 2 tsp or just that 1 tsp which makes 5 mg?! thank you!
I meant 5 grams!
Hi Viktorija, I used a digital kitchen scale to weigh and 2 exact teaspoons weighed 5 grams. I noticed you wrote 5 mg – maybe you mean 5 ml although ml is usually used for measuring liquids but there are 5 ml in a teaspoon. It may help to check out our tutorial on measuring ingredients for baking.
HI Natasha, thanks for a great recipe as always!!! I made these yesterday using strawberries, the taste is delicious. I can never follow a recipe to the t… need to learn not to ulter anything 😂 I used 2 egg whites but the rest was the same and they came out not as dense as I remember zifir to be. The inside is sooooo fluffy! The outside still formed nicely but did yours come out denser? Could of 1 extra egg white make such a difference? 1 had 2 recipes and the other called for 5 egg whites… just wanted your opinion? I want the zifir to be denser.
Hi Irina, these are fairly fluffy like a marshmallow inside and not super dense. It may have been more fluffy with an extra egg white.
Hi, I have tried this recipe using raspberries. I have followed the recipe and the method you have stated on your video. I have left them over night, but they have not become firm enough. They are still soft . What am I doing wrong?
Hi Furia, It is difficult to say without being there – I wonder if maybe the gelatin needed to be cooked a little longer (depending on the heat from your burner – that could vary slightly). Also, make sure to add the correct amount of syrup – adding too much can make the mixture more loose. I hope that helps!
Hello Natasha. Just went to Whole Foods to buy agar agar. They only had agar agar flakes. Will that work? That’s what i bought. Hoping to test the recipe out this week.
Thank you,
Jacquelyn
Hi Jacquelyn, I haven’t tested the flakes so I’m not 100% sugar. I’m assuming it will work but you might google to see if it substitutes in equal amounts for the powder.
Before you had a different recipe of zefir and oreshki can not find them can you please post them again I was looking like 3-4 years ago also the old set it recipe was on YouTube also can not find them.Please if is possible to post them again.Thank You!
Hi Lidiya, you must be thinking of a different website. This is the only zephyr I have posted and I don’t have a recipe for oreshki yet.
Thank you so much for the recipe! I tried it today and I got wonderful zephyr! The taste is amazing! I would like to share the photos of my zephyr! How can I do it?
Hi Anastasiia, we don’t have a feature to share photos on our site yet but we do have a private Facebook group where you could share it and I’d love to have you join! You could also email it to me directly: natasha @ natashaskitchen.com (no spaces) if you are not on facebook 🙂
Hi! Can I use frosen blackberries for this recipe ?
Hi Anastasia, frozen blackberries should work just as well. I hope you love the recipe! 🙂
Can I substitute gelatin for afar agar? And would it be in the same proportion?
Hi Veronika, for this particular recipe, gelatin doesn’t work the same way and I have had readers report that it doesn’t work. If you are not able to purchase it in stores, the best source would be online (I have an Amazon link above).
Hi, i was wondering long these keep? i wanted to make them a few days in advance of an event.
Hi Sonya, store these at room temperature in an airtight container (like Tupperware) for 2-3 says in a low humidity area.
Thank you for the recipe, it’s great! I love it 🙂 I love the fact that it’s made with real fruit!!!
You’re welcome Nina! I’m glad you love the recipe. Thanks for sharing!