Are marshmallows the new cupcakes?

Saturday, 21 January 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

They’re a quintessential component of a childhood mug of hot chocolate or a campfire sing-song.

Now, marshmallows are undergoing something of a fashionable makeover, with artisan marshmallows forecasted to be the sweet food fad of the year.

And if any were in doubt as to the fluffy sweets’ ‘next big thing’ status, look no further than trendy Manhattan baking boutique, Three Tarts Bakery.

‘Tart’ and chef Maria D’Urso told New York Times that ‘marshmallows are the new cupcakes.’

At her Chelsea bakery, the team make cinnamon, strawberry basil and chocolate rosemary varieties, elevating the classic children’s favourite to suitably grown-up fare.

Having crept into artisan circles last year, 2012 looks set to see the sugar and gelatine pillows take over the mainstream – their popularity defying some predictions.

At soapbox.com, Chicago chefs last May doubted whether the trend would take off - with Sandra Holl of Floriole cafe and Bakery saying she had a ‘hard time’ believing they’d trump cupcakes and Paul Fehribach of Big Jones restaurant questioning their versatility.

But Three Tarts certainly aren’t alone - hip New York bakeries Baked and soon-to-open Robicellis, the Times points out, also make gourmet puffs.

There is even a forthcoming marshmallow art exhibition by puff forerunners, The City Bakery, reports the newspaper.

And the trend is fast-spreading.

At 240Sweet in Columbus, Indiana, chefs turn out batches of hand-made avocado and lime, cherry limeaid, pineapple and mango, red bean and sesame and even chicken and beef flavour puffs.

Their exhaustive list of flavours is imaginative and as far from a bag of campfire marshmallows as is possible.

At Longman & Eagle restaurant in Chicago, a savoury marshmallow was added to the menu last autumn, while sweet marshmallows as part of desserts and adorning American sweet potato dishes have perhaps never truly gone out of fashion.

ABC’s The Chew featured a whopping two-pound s’mores-flavoured marshmallow by Plush Puffs as part of their feature looking at the newest sweet fashion just days ago. The programme said the trend follows from 2007’s molecular gastronomy, 2008’s cookies, 2009’s pies, 2010’s meatballs and 2011’s cupcake obsessions.