Juicy moistening Marshmallow recipes
This post is part of a series of home preparations with herbs featured in the BIPOC Herb Exchange, where Indigenous and Melanated budding herbalists can access organic and beyond-organic plants to practice and grow our medicine ways.
Marshmallow (Althea officinalis)
Marshmallow is a juicy food and potent soothing herbal ally for the mucous membranes in our respiratory, digestive, and sex systems. They are also helpful topically to heal wounds and moisturize the skin. As we shift to cooler weather and move through all kinds of transformation, I find myself reaching for Marshmallow to connect with the watery softness within.
Here are a few recipes I’m loving right now.
Full moon marshmallows
These Marshmallows really have marshmallow in them! They’re cut to your preference and perfect for plopping into a hot cocoa. I can’t wait to make these again!
Above: Messy homemade marshmallow cubes in a tupperware
Ingredients:
1 c strong mugwort infusion, divided
3 tbsp grass fed gelatin
1 c local honey
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp marshmallow root powder
1/2 c tapioca powder, kuzu powder, or arrowroot powder
Directions:
Cover a 9x9” baking pan with parchment paper. Dust the parchment paper evenly with ¼ cup of tapioca powder.
Pour ½ cup of mugwort infusion into a large bowl and add the gelatin. Leave to bloom.
In the meantime, add the rest of the mugwort infusion, 1 cup honey, and 1/2 tsp salt into a small pot on the stovetop with a candy thermometer. Turn the stove to medium-high heat until the liquid reaches 230F.
Use a mixer or whisk to stir the gelatin, adding the honey mixture into the bowl. Whip the mixture until it thickens like the texture of marshmallow fluff - at least 10 minutes. Mix in the marshmallow root powder.
Pour the mixture into the baking pan and smooth the top if needed. Sprinkle the rest of the tapioca powder to cover the mixtue, then top with parchment paper.
Let the marshmallow set overnight in the fridge.
The next day, Flip the pan over onto a cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper and cut the marshmallows into cubes.
The marshmallows can be stored in the fridge 2 weeks.
Marshmallow root incense cones
There are many ways to make incense cones. The basic idea is to create a ground blend of resins, barks, berries, leaves, flowers, and then bind them together to shape. You can make a bioregional incense blend by gathering parts in their season throughout the year, so fall and spring equinox are perfect times to make incense!
Once dry, these cones burn easily on charcoal or lighting them directly. I was curious about using marshmallow root as a binder for incense cones and made 2 slightly different variations. Both came out nice!
Above: Homemade incense cones in a bowl with pine needles and pine bark
The measurements below are approximate. Once you make a few batches you learn the proportions that work best for you.
Version 1 ingredients:
1/4 part resin (like any conifer resin, bud resin, or bee propolis)
1/2 part leaves/flowers
1/4 part marshmallow root
1/4 part barks/berries
Cordial, honey, or mead
For my recent batch, I worked with marshmallow root, cinnamon bark, rose hip, rose petal, piñon resin, loblolly pine needles, white pine needles and bark, and my endless summer cordial.
Directions:
If your resin is not already powdered, grind it down in a mortar and pestle. I don’t recommend using a spice grinder for resin because the heat can melt the resin and make a sticky mess! Freeze semi-solid resin to make it easier to grind, and work quickly. Dry resin is easiest to use for this.
Grind the other plant parts by hand or in a spice grinder. Combine all the dry powders, then add small amounts of cordial/honey/mead until you get a moldable paste that you can roll into cones. If you plan to light the cones directly rather than using charcoal, small narrow cones (even smaller than the photo above) will burn most evenly. Let the cones dry completely before using.
Version 2 uses all the same dry ingredients, but instead of honey, water is added to activate the marshmallow root as a binder. I used a mugwort hydrosol.
Marshmallow cinnamon sweet belly tea
I don’t know about you, but when I feel stuck, I’m STUCK. This is a tea to help calm the belly and get things moving in a dry GI tract.
Above: Peregrine holding a cup of marshmallow tea over marshmallow-colored pants
Directions:
Mix 1 tsp marshmallow powder + 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder + 1/4 tsp mint into 2-3 cups just-boiled water. Stir out any clumps and let steep for a couple minutes until the tea slightly thickens. If using mint that’s not powdered, steep for 10 minutes before straining.
To further customize this tea to your digestive needs and tastes, you can swap mint for any aromatic carminative herb like Fennel seed, add cholagogues like Calendula, add vulneraries like Plantain, add more anti-inflammatories like Turmeric, or add bitter herbs like Dandelion!
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