First, PP, I'm fascinated to know what search lead you to revive this four-year-old thread?

Second, I'm now down the rabbit hole, so to the nearly half decade old question of why marshmallows taste like marshmallows and not vanilla:

First, there are other ingredients besides vanilla in the recipe -- its not just vanilla in the flavor profile. Most important: sugar, cooked sugar. Think about the flavor difference between granulated sugar and the same ingredient dissolved in water and cooked into a caramel; and again how different the flavor when it is overcooked or burnt. The cooking changes the flavor profile.

So whichever ingredients you use in your marshmallow recipe, the blend of ingredients changes the flavor, and the cooking process, even the precise temperature chosen, changes it even more.

The most basic home made marshmallow ingredients are sugar, water, and gelatin. Some recipes add vanilla, corn syrup, powdered sugar, salt, egg white, or substitute gelatin for agar agar or other plant based ingredients. All of these will change the flavor profile (and the texture).

Notably, the marshmallow root PP mentions is a plant-based gelatin substitute. It was a thickening agent in the recipe. Now people would use agar agar for vegan marshmallows if they didn't want to use the more typical gelatin (which is an animal product). Marshmallow root also has a distinctive taste, kind of like a licorice cough drop, but not as strong -- so probably not the actual taste most people associate with marshmallows these days anyway.

someone here stated that marshmallows and vanilla are different as vanilla comes from a bean and marshmallows are just sugar, while yes, vanilla does come from a bean, marshmallows actually come from a plant known as mallow (Athaea officinalis), ofc adding that many are miciced by sugar and corn syrup, but if we go off vanilla in bean form as opposed to artificial, we should see marshmallows from mallow plants. (the reason marshmallows are called marshmallows is bc the plant mallow grows in marshs)

this doesn't really answer the question, it is just useful knowledge.

In addition to corn syrup, marshmallows are usually made with powdered sugar (sugar + cornstarch) and gelatin. I think it's the gelatin and starch that makes it taste different from plain vanilla.

That’s fantastic and very thoughtful gift. I would look at actual marshmallow recipes to see what they use to get there flavoring. I remember making Marshmello before and it was basically vanilla so maybe just make a vanilla creamer.

I wouldn't bother with the cream.

Although very nice, I'd venture to say that he likes the particular brand that he's purchasing and it's really hard to dupe that. If anything, he's suffering in the coffee department because gas station/7-11, etc. coffee is watered down and nasty.

The press - and perhaps gourmet coffee is a very thoughtful gift.

OP - You should work at Jelly Belly.

I think you're onto something, and I agree with PP that marshmallow (and specifically S'Mores) has a burnt sugar flavor. S'Mores, caramel, flan, crème brulee -- all do the burnt sugar thing.

To me, vanilla and marshmallow have very distinct tastes and scents. Vanilla is based on the vanilla bean (although many vanillas are not natural, the bean is what they are based on) and marshmallow is a sugary, thick, sweet concoction.

It's sort of like comparing an apple to a jolly rancher candy. Yes, there is a similarity. But the apple is a natural sweet while the candy is a sugary sweet.

I’ve made marshmallow and it’s always had a bit of a corn syrup taste to me. I think this is a sweet gift.

Marshmallow has a slight burnt sugar taste.

Anonymous wrote:I'd get him a gift card to the coffee shop.

Probably marketing more than anything else.

Plain marshmallow on its own is just sugar. It's texture more than anything else. You flavor the marshmallow for a different flavor. Vanilla is a classic flavoring and that's probably why it's commonly added to marshmallow to round off the sugar flavor.

I'd get him a gift card to the coffee shop.

This started with my son's comment on Thanksgiving about the 2 24 ounce coffees he buys every day. He is self-employed and spends a lot of time on the road. I started thinking about a French press and amazingly Stanley makes a 48 ounce thermos French press, so am considering it for Xmas.

He buys gas station coffee and flavors it with a shot of gas station cappuccino, specifically a combo of French Vanilla and S'mores.

So I was thinking about making him coffee creamer that would replicate his preferred addition. And I did find some bloggers with flavored creamer recipes, but this all led to a question for me:

The blogges use marshmallow creme in their s'mores creamer recipe. So what makes marshmallow taste like marshmallow? In the modern world they don't use the plant they did a century ago. Wikipedia says marshmallows are flavored with vanilla, but if that was all it is you wouldn't need to add marshmallow creme to the mix.

I now find that you can buy marshmallow flavor. Haven't checked whether there are organic versions as opposed to synthesized flavors. But any idea why/how marshmallow tastes different from just vanilla?