Homemade Marshmallow Creme (Meringue Frosting)

This homemade meringue tastes like marshmallow creme! It comes together quickly and easily with 4 basic ingredients. Made without all the preservatives and high fructose corn syrup of the store-bought version, this extra creamy and sweet topping/frosting will quickly become your new favorite.

One reader, Kathy, commented: “Heavenly! I’ll never go back to plain old whipped meringue. I made your recipe for creamy Lemon Pie and topped it with this and oh my goodness. It was incredible! ★★★★★“

Have you ever had a fluffernutter sandwich? Eaten marshmallows straight out of the bag? Roast campfire s’mores just to eat the gooey toasted marshmallow? Enjoyed marshmallow fluff right out of the jar? If any of these describe you, continue on.

PS: A fluffernutter sandwich is peanut butter and marshmallow creme on bread. Don’t knock it ’til you try it, trust me.

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This is Meringue, But Tastes Like Homemade Fluff

Today we’re making homemade fluff aka marshmallow creme. I’ve actually taught you how to make it several times before:

• No Bake S’mores Cake
• Brownie Baked Alaska
• S’mores Chocolate Mousse
• Chocolate Mousse Pie
• S’mores Brownie Cupcakes
• Ultimate Birthday Cupcakes
• Chai Pumpkin Meringue Pie

It’s basically Swiss Meringue Buttercream, just without the butter. But don’t let the word “meringue” frighten you. This is an astonishingly simple mixture that you can use as a frosting, filling, or topping on MANY different confections. You only need 4 ingredients, a stovetop, and a mixer. It’s similar to traditional “7 minute frosting”, but doesn’t contain corn syrup or water.

What Does Marshmallow Creme Taste Like?

Marshmallow creme is everything we love about marshmallows, but in semi-liquified form. It’s extra creamy, soft, and sweet and pairs wonderfully with a variety of flavors like chocolate, peanut butter, banana, pumpkin, spice, lemon, etc. When toasted, it tastes like a marshmallow roasted over a campfire!

Unlike store-bought marshmallow fluff, this makes an excellent frosting because it can be piped. (Store-bought isn’t stable enough.) It doesn’t hold any intricate shapes, but pipes beautifully with a large round tip like Ateco 808, pictured above on chocolate cupcakes and below on S’mores Brownie Cupcakes.

Just 4 Ingredients

Here’s what you need to make homemade marshmallow creme. Though the written recipe is below, I want to walk through these ingredients so you understand the importance of each.

1. Egg Whites: Egg whites and sugar form the structure. For best success, I recommend using fresh eggs instead of carton egg whites. (Using an egg separator is really handy!) Here are all my recipes using leftover egg yolks. Success tip: Eggs separate much easier when they’re cold.
2. Granulated Sugar: Use regular granulated sugar, not confectioners’ sugar.
3. Cream of Tartar: If you’ve made our French macarons, you’ll remember that cream of tartar stabilizes the egg whites and helps the mixture hold its stiff peaks. It does the same job here—certainly an imperative ingredient. Sometimes lemon juice can be used as a substitute, but I don’t recommend it here. For best results, you need cream of tartar.
4. Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract adds wonderful flavor.

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How to Make Homemade Marshmallow Creme & Video Tutorial

While it certainly looks fancy, homemade marshmallow creme couldn’t be easier to make. This is a simple 4 ingredient mixture cooked on the stovetop, then beaten into stiff peaks.

Begin by whisking the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar together in a double boiler or heat-proof bowl over a small pot of simmering water. Continue whisking until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has thinned out. Remove from heat, add vanilla extract, then use your mixer and whip on high speed until stiff glossy peaks form. Whipping is where the magic happens. It’s fun to watch the mixture transform from a thin liquid to voluminous fluff—literally a big puffy cloud.

You can toast homemade fluff using a kitchen torch (affiliate link—this is the torch I own and love) like I do in my no-bake s’mores cake, bourbon sweet potato pie, brownie baked Alaska, s’mores brownie cupcakes, and s’mores chocolate mousse.

Uses for Homemade Marshmallow Fluff

• Topping for banana cream pie or pumpkin pie
• As a filling for crepes
• Frosted on chocolate cupcakes or peanut butter cupcakes
• Piped & toasted on coconut cake or red velvet cake
• Swirled on pumpkin cupcakes or lemon cupcakes
• Between two graham crackers
• Spread & toasted on homemade brownies
• As the filling for oatmeal creme pies
• In s’mores cookie bars
• As the filling for cream-filled chocolate cupcakes
• As a completely homemade option for topping pumpkin cupcakes with marshmallow frosting
• Wherever you would use marshmallow fluff!

It’s excellent as a filling for cupcakes, but I find it squishes easily between layers of cake. I don’t recommend using it as a filling for cake, but you could certainly use it to frost the outside of a cake.

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