Marshmallow marshmallow a day. Today, the marshmallow typically consists of four components. These are sugar, water, air, and a whipping agent (usually a protein). The type of sugar and whipping agent varies depending on desired characteristics. Each ingredient plays a specific role in the final product. Confectioners in early 19th century France pioneered the innovation of whipping up the marshmallow sap and sweetening it, to make a confection similar to modern marshmallow. The confection was made locally by the owners of small sweet shops. They would extract the sap from the mallow plant's root, and whip it themselves. The candy was
Althaea officinalis the other mallows growing in Great Britain by the numerous divisions of the outer calyx (six to nine cleft), by the hoary down which thickly clothes the stems and foliage, and by the numerous panicles of blush-coloured flowers, paler than the common mallow. The roots are perennial, thick, long and tapering, very tough and pliant, whitish yellow outside, white and fibrous within. The generic name, "Althaea", is derived from the Greek (to cure), from its supposed healing properties. The name of the family, Malvaceae, is derived from the Latin "", a generic name for the mallows and the source of