I seriously love marshmallows. Maybe it’s their association with summer and autumn campfires, hot cocoa, and Rice Krispie squares. Or maybe it’s just their incredibly light, fluffy, gooey texture and delicious vanilla flavor. (Though “vanilla†is often used as a shorthand for “boring,†is there honestly anyone who doesn’t like the flavor?)
So I was totally jazzed to discover Mitchell Sweets All Natural Chocolate and Vanilla caramel-coated marshmallows at Hammond’s Candies’ All Candy Expo booth – one of the nicest-looking booths at the show, I might add – alongside an array of gorgeous handmade candy canes and lollipops. Because if there’s one thing I love more than marshmallows, it’s caramel. And chocolate. (OK, that’s two things.)
Individually wrapped in waxed paper, the rectangular marshmallows have a chunky, rustic look, bearing borders of vanilla and chocolate-flavored caramel respectively. They have the appearance of having been cut from a big log of caramel-coated marshmallow (and if you can think of a stickier, messier job than coating a log of gooey marshmallow in hot, sticky caramel, I’d like to hear it). The ingredient list is pretty simple, but not as simple as you’d expect from something bearing the name “all natural†(which, admittedly, doesn’t mean an awful lot these days). Are coconut oil, corn syrup, and invert sugar “natural†products? For that matter, is gelatin? Regular sugar? Who knows?