Zefir Apple Marshmallow
Zefir stands on two things: the pectin of baked apples and agar cooked to the right temperature. Agar only works above 105 degrees, and at 110 it gives that particular springiness you recognise at once. And the purée has to be thick enough for a spoon to stand in — a loose one will never whip into something that holds its shape.
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 24 h
- Total
- 25 h
- Servings
- 12
- Level
- Challenging
- Per serving
- 190 kcal
Ingredients
Apple base
Syrup
To finish
Makes: about 30 halves, 12 portions
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Bake the apples
Bake four or five large apples at 180 °C for 25 minutes, scoop out the flesh and blend it. Baked rather than boiled: less water, more pectin.
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Step 2: Reduce the purée if loose
If it runs off the spoon, cook it down over low heat to the thickness of marmalade. A spoon should leave a trail that does not close immediately.
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Step 3: Soak the agar
Stir the agar into 160 ml of water and leave 15 minutes. Dry agar dropped into hot syrup never dissolves and stays as grains.
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Step 4: Whip purée and white
Mix the cold purée with 250 g of sugar, add the egg white and whip 5–7 minutes to a white, billowy mass three times its original volume.
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Step 5: Cook the syrup to 110 °C
Bring the agar and water to the boil, add 475 g of sugar and cook to 110 °C — roughly 5–6 minutes of hard boiling. The syrup should trail from the spoon in a thread.
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Step 6: Pour the syrup in
Without stopping the mixer, pour the hot syrup down the side of the bowl in a thin stream. Whip another 3–4 minutes, until the mass is dense and warm rather than hot.
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Step 7: Pipe immediately
Transfer to a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe rosettes onto parchment quickly. Agar sets at 40 °C — you have about five minutes.
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Step 8: Dry for a day
Leave at room temperature for 24 hours. The halves are ready when they lift cleanly off the paper and feel dry on top; then dust with icing sugar and join them in pairs.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Agar is not gelatine: it only activates after boiling and sets at 40 °C, which is room temperature. Gelatine cannot replace it — the zefir simply will not stand.
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Tip
A thermometer is essential. At 105 °C the mass stays liquid; at 115 °C it becomes chewy caramel. Five degrees decides everything.
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Variation
Berry zefir: replace 80 g of the apple purée with sieved raspberries or currants. No more than that — berries hold less pectin and the mass will run.
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Storage
A week in a closed box at room temperature. In the fridge zefir takes up moisture and turns sticky; it must never be frozen.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 12 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 190 kcal | 2,280 kcal |
| Protein | 1 g | 12 g |
| Fat | 0 g | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 47 g | 564 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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