Marshmallow creme (also called marshmallow fluff, marshmallow stuff, marshmallow spread, marshmallow paste, or simply fluff) is a

marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a confectionery made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. This sugar confection is inspired by a medicina ...

confectionery Confectionery is the Art (skill), art of making confections, or sweet foods. Confections are items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates, although exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confections are divided into two bro ...

spread similar in flavor, but not texture, to regular solid marshmallow. One brand of marshmallow creme is Marshmallow Fluff, which is used to make the fluffernutter sandwich, a New England classic

comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone and may be characterized by its high caloric nature associated with childhood or home cooking. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual or it may apply to a ...

which debuted in 1918 in Massachusetts, just a year after marshmallow creme was invented.

History

Many late-19th-century "marshmallow paste" recipes produced solid foods. The earliest mention of marshmallow creme in an American cookbook is from ''Fannie Farmer's Boston School Cook Book'', printed in 1896. However, the author does not give a recipe for marshmallow cream in this book, instead giving a recipe for marshmallow paste in the cake filling section. In 1902, ''Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book'' by Sarah Tyson Rorer describes her recipe for "marshmallow filling". In 1910, ice cream company Limpert Brothers in Vineland,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

created a product of the same name, intended as a dessert topping. The company is sometimes credited as the inventor of Marshmallow Fluff. Around the beginning of the 20th century,

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

, resident and inventor of the product Archibald Query started selling his version door-to-door. He soon afterward sold the recipe to two candy makers in

Swampscott, Massachusetts Swampscott () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts ...

, H. Allen Durkee and Fred Mower, for $500. The product first hit market shelves in cans as Toot Sweet Marshmallow Fluff in 1917. The first two words were dropped soon after the packaging changed to a glass jar in the 1940s. Today, the Durkee-Mower company is one of only three companies in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to produce marshmallow creme, the other products being

Kraft Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme and

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

Marshmallow Creme. Fluff's ingredients include

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...

, sugar syrup, vanilla flavor, and

egg white Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens, it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms a ...

s. Fluff continues to be a regional tradition in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

. Since at least 2006, the city of Somerville has celebrated Query's original creation of Fluff with an annual festival in Union Square titled What the Fluff?. Typical activities at the festival have included Fluff-themed science fairs, a marshmallow launching robot from Somerville High School's FIRST Robotics team with their s'morebot, gallery shows, cooking contests, and carnival games. In 2011, actress Susan Olsen, most famous for portraying Cindy Brady on the '' Brady Bunch'', attended the festival, where she sold her Fluff-inspired art.

Uses

One popular use for marshmallow creme is in the " fluffernutter", a Fluff and peanut butter sandwich. In 2006, State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein planned to file a bill that would make the fluffernutter the official sandwich of Massachusetts. Marshmallow creme is also a traditional confection in Arabic cuisine, where it is commonly referred to as soapwort meringue (). The original recipe is based on soapwort (roots of '' Saponaria officinalis'') or roots of the marshmallow plant, but modern commercial varieties are nearly identical to marshmallow creme manufactured in North America. It was mentioned in a tenth-century Arabic cookbook, ''Kitab al-Ṭabīḫ'' (''The Book of Dishes'') by

Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq () was an Arab author from Baghdad. He was the compiler of a tenth-century cookbook, the (, ''The Book of Dishes''). This is the earliest known Arabic cookbook. It contains over 600 recipes, divided into 132 chapters. The is the oldest survivi ...

Health

According to a 2006 ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' article,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

State Senator Jarrett Barrios proposed a restriction on the number of weekly servings of fluffernutter sandwiches in the form of an amendment to a bill that would limit

junk food "Junk food" is a term used to describe food that is high in calorie#Nutrition, calories from macronutrients such as sugar and fat, and often also high in sodium, making it hyperpalatable, and low in dietary fiber, Protein (nutrient), protein, or m ...

in schools. Attention on this issue was widespread, with news outlets as far as California reporting on the controversy. The proposal was later dropped.

References

External links

Marshmallow Fluff homepage

What the Fluff? A Tribute to Union Square Invention – festival honoring Archibald Query and Marshmallow Fluff

The Velveteen Lounge Kitsch-en Celebrates National Fluffernutter Day
American desserts American confectionery Marshmallows Spreads (food) Creamy dishes

History

Uses

Health

See also

References

Further reading

External links