Concession Obsession: Cotton Candy

An Ode to Cotton Candy

Cotton candy and carnivals – you can’t really have one without the other! Cotton candy is a staple of the concession stand culture I love so much. I bought my daughter her first cotton candy at a Disney on Ice performance. We shared it and it was a special moment, I loved watching her face as she felt the sugary fluff melt in her mouth.

If you’re a regular reader of drivingandining, you know that I’ve decided to feature some of the tasty (and sometimes surprising) foods you can buy from concession trailers, carts, or counters. If this is your first visit, welcome! Check out some of my other concession obsessions: the hot dog cart, the corn dog, funnel cakes, and others.

Other Names For Cotton Candy

Spun Sugar, Candy Floss (England), Fairy Floss (Australia)

(Photo copyright T.Bennett 2010)

History Of Cotton Candy

Candy historians often credit this sweet discovery to the World’s Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri in 1904, but in fact recipes for sugar-spinning date back to as early as 1769. (foodtimeline.org)

Cotton Candy Pink

A certain shade of pink is so identified with this delicious sugary treat, that it is now called ‘cotton candy pink’ and pervades all styles of fashion, from street chic to cute prom queen…

Cotton Candy Inspirations

Check out this sour apple flavored spider web cotton candy! For another interesting take on cotton candy, you can also buy Charms brand lollipops.

Blue Bunny makes a cotton candy ice cream flavor. I love ice cream cakes so I think ice cream cupcakes are a fantastic idea! Perfect for a kid’s birthday party:

Cotton Candy Cuties

This figurine is a kitchen fairy by G. G. Santiago, available at uniquecollectibleboxes.com.

Another sweet idea, cotton candy “fairy bites” from Brooke McLay’s Cheeky Kitchen. She uses chocolate chips, marshmallows, and cotton candy to create little wisps of cotton candy on the end of a lollipop stick. Super cute.