Homemade marshmallows make a wonderful gift for candy lovers and hot cocoa enthusiasts. These puffy treats are infused with lapsang souchong tea, which gives them sweet, smoky flavor.

Winter months are made for enjoying warm flavors, and pine-smoked lapsang souchong tea has been a favorite lately. I was inspired to whip up some smoky tea marshmallows for hot cocoa, but we ended up eating most of them straight from them pan with just a dusting of confectioners’ coating.
When the marshmallows finally made it into a cup of steaming hot cocoa – wow. The melting marshmallow gives the chocolate depth of flavor and a whole new level of cozy!

The first step is making double strength tea. I used 1/4 cup of loose leaf lapsang souchong to 1 1/4 cups of water, and let it steep for a few hours. If you have time constraints, 30 minutes will give you adequately infused tea for this recipe.

The flavor was a total surprise to one of our taste-testers. At first glance the marshmallows appear to be your average batch of homemade vanilla, but looks can be deceiving! I can’t wait to make these again, and I’m already planning to make these in summer for the most awesome campfire s’mores.

I loved this version with piney lapsang souchong, but the recipe can be varied with other teas. You can replace the smoked tea with your favorite bold brew. For best results, the tea should be quite strongly scented and flavored straight from the tin (Earl Greyer comes to mind) and be sure to double up on the tea to water ratio before adding it to this recipe. Use loose-leaf teas if possible. They are usually higher quality than bagged tea, and the larger leaves deliver smooth, well-balanced flavor.

Gourmet Smoked Tea Marshmallows
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Ingredients
Double strength lapsang souchong tea
- 1 1/4 cup 300 ml water
- 1/4 cup 15 grams loose lapsang souchong tea leaves
Marshmallows
Marshmallow coating:
- 1 1/2 cups 284 grams powdered sugar
- 1 cup 190 grams corn starch
Gelatin bloom:
- 4 teaspoons unflavored powdered gelatin
- 1/3 cup lapsang souchong tea
Sugar syrup:
- 1 cup 200 grams sugar
- 1/2 cup 167 grams light corn syrup, divided
- 1/4 cup 60 ml lapsang souchong tea
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Brew the tea:
- Bring 1 1/4 cups (300 ml) of water to a boil. Pour the water over loose lapsang souchong tea leaves and let steep 30 minutes. Pour tea infused water through a sieve to remove tea leaves. Press the leaves with the back of a spoon to remove as much tea from the leaves as possible. Discard leaves. Let tea cool completely. Use the tea in the following marshmallow recipe. You may have a little tea left over at the end which can be discarded.
Marshmallows
- Lightly coat an 8×8 inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Prepare the marshmallow coating: sift together confectioner’s sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl and stir until just blended; set aside.
- For the bloom: Whisk together gelatin and 1/3 cup (80 ml) tea in a small bowl and let soften for 10 minutes.
- For the sugar syrup: In a medium saucepan over high heat, stir together sugar, 1/4 cup (84 grams) of the corn syrup, 1/4 cup (60 ml) tea, and salt. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the temperature reaches 240°F.
- While the sugar syrup cooks, pour the remaining 1/4 cup (84 grams) corn syrup into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Microwave the gelatin for about 10-15 seconds or until completely melted. Pour the gelatin into the mixing bowl, set to a low speed and keep it running. When the syrup mixture reaches 240 °F, slowly pour it into the mixing bowl with the gelatin mixture. Increase the speed to medium and whisk for 5 minutes, then increase speed to medium high and beat for 3 minutes. The finished marshmallow mixture will be more than doubled in volume. Immediately pour the marshmallow into the prepared pan and sift prepared coating evenly over the top; let stand in a cool, dry place for at least six hours.
- Using a knife, loosen the marshmallow from the edges of the pan. Invert the slab onto a work surface dusted with the prepared coating. Cut into about 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) pieces and dust sticky edges with coating. Marshmallow may be stored up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.
Looks delicious! . Thanks for sharing
https://coolkitchenutensils.com
SO unique!
I don't know how I missed this recipe. Another winner, Heather!