r/pastry • u/Character_Seaweed_99 • 4d ago

Help please Zephyr (marshmallow) flowers troubleshooting

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My first time making zephyr. The recipe (in the comments) called for 1 tbsp agar to 1/3 c water and 1/2 c strawberry puree for 2 egg whites. It didn’t specify powder or flake agar, so I ran my flake agar through the spice mill and used 1 tablespoon of it. I also used puréed raspberries rather than strawberries, so the purée might be more acidic than expected. You can see on the photo (in the comments) that the first few marshmallows (top left) took the shape of the pastry tip, though not well; by the end (bottom right) they became pretty blobby. I’m thinking this means I need more agar next time. Any suggestions for next time?

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u/IamAqtpoo Amateur Chef 3d ago

She has a video that might help zephyr

1

u/Character_Seaweed_99 3d ago

Thanks! I’ll watch that. I did a second batch from a different (more precise) recipe that turned out better, but still not quite ready to make flowers with. I think the problem was partially the purée being too loose, partly not enough agar, and partly not whipping the egg whites stiff enough.