Strawberry Marlow is a cool and creamy dessert made with marshmallows, strawberries and whipped cream. You’ll love this easy, vintage dessert!
My mom passed away about six years ago – just a few months before Jack and I officially started blogging here at A Family Feast. Among other possessions, I was lucky to inherit my mother’s old recipe box as well as a number of her old cookbooks – many of them being ‘community cookbooks’ of recipes compiled by members of her church, the local school, or the women’s club she attended.
Jack and I both have a huge soft spot in our hearts for those vintage recipes. Those cookbooks are a glimpse of the past – seeing the types of ingredients home cooks used, and meals that families enjoyed eating decades ago.
Some recipes from those cookbooks – like today’s Strawberry Marlow – seem to be a somewhat forgotten (but still very delicious) sweet treat!
A marlow is a creamy marshmallow-based dessert – typically mixed with fruit – that can be frozen and eaten like ice cream, or chilled until just thickened so it resembles more of a mousse.
We tried eating this Strawberry Marlow both ways – and both were delicious! This frozen dessert definitely resembles a strawberry ice cream, but with a creamier, richer texture against your tongue thanks to the melted marshmallow in the custard.
And, as the Strawberry Marlow starts to soften in your serving dish, you can really taste the marshmallow and enjoy a softer creamier mousse-like texture. (Two favorite desserts in one!)
We made ours a Strawberry Marlow by mashing up fresh strawberries and sugar – but other fruits would be delicious too. In doing a little research, it seems that pineapple was another favorite marlow flavor, as well as chocolate!
You may enjoy these other strawberry desserts:
- Roasted Strawberry Crème Fraîche Ice Cream
- White Christmas Pie
- Strawberries Romanoff
- Strawberry Nutella Crumb Torte
- Strawberry Brambles
Strawberry Marlow
Strawberry Marlow is a cool and creamy dessert made with marshmallows, strawberries and whipped cream. You’ll love this easy, vintage dessert!
- Prep Time: 6 hours
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 1/2 quarts 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: freeze
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
8 ounces marshmallows
1 cup fresh strawberries
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
Instructions
- In a large non-stick pot*, heat milk to scalding over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir frequently until melted, making sure mixture doesn’t scorch on the bottom. (*Note – the marshmallows will foam up as they melt so you definitely need a larger pot for this step.)
- Pour marshmallow mixture into a large bowl and chill in the refrigerator for one hour. Stir mixture and chill for another hour, until the mixture has thickened.
- While the marshmallow mixture cools, place strawberries in a mixing bowl and mash well using a potato masher. (An immersion blender can also be used, but avoid completely pureeing the strawberries – you ideally want some small pieces of strawberries remaining.) Stir in granulated sugar, mix well to dissolve the sugar in the juices.
- In another mixing bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Keep chilled.
- Once the marshmallow mixture has cooled completely, stir once more, then fold both the strawberry mixture and the whipped cream. Stir until well combined.
- Pour mixture into a 2-quart ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. After churning, pour mixture into a freezer safe container and freeze 2 hours for a mousse-like texture or a full 4-6 hours for a firm, ice cream-like texture.
Just checking – after churning in ice cream maker, do we freeze for either 2 hours or for 4-6 hours, or chill in fridge for those periods of time?
Hi Janet – Sorry for the confusion – I can see how my using the word “chill” is not clear (I will update the recipe!) You would freeze after churning. After two hours, the mixture will still be somewhat soft and after 4 to 6 hours it will have a firm ice cream texture. Thank you for your question!
can you just freeze it without churning? what if you don’t have an ice cream maker?
Sure Lisa – It won’t be quite so light and airy but you can freeze it without churning.
Can’t wait to get to the store for the ingredients!!! Thank you so much for sharing. Will send a comment as soon as I try it. Sure it will be great!!
We hope you love the recipe Betty!