Peppermint Marshmallows from Wondermade

Photo From Wondermade.
Click on the Pic to go there.

About Wondermade:

Every box of Wondermade marshmallows is handcrafted and taste great right out of the box. You can also drop a few in a cup of hot chocolate, melt them on top of baking brownies, or toast them on a skewer or in a s’mores.

I received these Marshmallows as part of the Christmas Set available from Wondermade.

What I Think:

These are my last marshmallows from the Wondermade Christmas box.  I saved the best for last!  These were my favorite marshmallows from this package.

These are extraordinarily minty.  I can definitely taste the menthol here!  They’re very cool and refreshing and YUMMY!  They’re delicious when eaten right out of the box (I love the little boxes in which these little bite sized marshmallows are packaged!) and they add a wonderful minty flavor to a cup of hot chocolate!

My Final Thoughts:

Yum!  I love Wondermade.  Yeah … I still love that other marshmallow company too.  I just have two favorites now.

Sweet Potato & Ginger Marshmallows from 240Sweet

These unique puffs are described as simply

A fall favorite

240Sweet Marshmallows are available on the 240Sweet website.

Tea Suggestion:

When they’re not serving as a fluffy, delicious cap to my hot cocoa, I usually prefer to eat marshmallows with a cup of hot tea.  However, the heat from the ginger on these gives me cause to want something that is easy to “chug” … lest I need to cool the palate immediately.  So I chose a white tea because even when served hot, I prepare it at a cooler temperature than I do other tea types, and white tea tends to offer the body and palate cooling properties.  I chose this amazing Organic White Tea from Steenbergs Organics.  The sweet, crisp flavor of the tea offered lovely refreshment from these deliciously sweet yet spicy puffs.

What I Think:

I think I may have mentioned before that 240Sweet makes my favorite marshmallows.  And it’s not just because the marshmallows are huge and fluffy and perfectly sweet.  It’s not just because 240Sweet has managed to create works of art with their marshmallows.  Sure, these reasons factor in to why I love these marshmallows so much, but there’s something more to it too.

It’s their gutsy approach to marshmallows.  They’re not afraid to get ballsy with their marshmallows and put flavors in them.  They’re not content with just letting a marshmallow be a simple little puff of sugary sweet goodness.  I mean, seriously, who ELSE would think to put SWEET POTATO flavor in a marshmallow, encrust it with crunchy, candied GINGER and turn those simple little puffs (or in this case … HUGE puffs) into spicy, savory, sweet bits of culinary joy?

Oh.  My.  Goodness!  These are amazing.  So yummy!

These puffs evoke thoughts of Thanksgiving dinner when I was a child (which is why I chose to schedule this review for Thanksgiving) … My stepmother would always make sweet potato casserole.  And this puff is very much like that sweet potato casserole, only BETTER because first of all, it’s a confection and so it’s OK that this is sweet.  (Now that I’m grown I’m a little disappointed that the delicious flavor of the sweet potato was masked by all that sugar and stale, commercially manufactured marshmallow)  Second … the ginger on this gives it a fiery heat that my stepmother could never duplicate (she had no clue when it came to spices).

The sweet potato flavor is IN the marshmallow itself.  However, if you want to taste the sweet potato flavor, you need to be sure that you bite into a bit of the marshmallow that is not studded with the crystallized ginger.  Otherwise, what you’ll taste is mostly spicy-hot ginger.  The sweet potato flavor is overwhelmed by the ginger when you bite into the ginger … but when you take a bite into just the marshmallow, you can taste the creamy marshmallow and the sweet, savory taste of the sweet potato.   I like to alternate bites, eating some of the puff without the ginger.  Its sweet and savory, the sweet potato adds such an interesting flavor to the marshmallow.   Then I like taking a bite with the ginger and POW!  It’s like a spicy kick in the mouth!

My Final Thoughts:

I wanted to try these because they sounded so unique (come on… sweet potato flavor in a marshmallow?  Aren’t you at least a little bit intrigued?) and I’m really glad I did.  I love the contrast of flavors and textures that these puffs provide.  A lovely autumnal treat!

Basket o’ Marionberries from Willamette Valley Confectionery

Photo from Foodzie. Click on the photo to go there.

Product Description:

A long time French favorite, the pâte de fruit is a little jewel-like confection bursting with fruit. The deep dark purple color comes from the local marionberry, a sweeter, juicier version of the common blackberry.

Learn more about Willamette Valley Confectionery on their website.

Tea Suggestion:

I enjoyed these yummy confections over the course of a couple of days, and tried them with different teas over these samplings.  Two different teas stood out as an outstanding pairing.  First, I recommend this Organic Gurance from Butiki Teas.  These fruity candies gave an interesting dimension to the malty tones of the tea and really accented the fruit notes of the tea as well.  The second tea I’d recommend is this delicious Sweet Roast Green Tea from Mauna Kea Tea.  The toasty notes of the tea added an interesting contrast to the sweetness of the confection.

What I Think:

If you have a sweet tooth, you may want to read more about this product.  If you don’t really care for the sweet stuff, this may not be the treat for you.

That is my way of stating up front that these are incredibly sweet.  Almost too sweet.  They are covered in sugar, and with my first bite, it almost felt like I was biting into a sugar cube.

But, that’s not to say that I dislike these, because I do like them.  But they are really sweet, and I can’t eat more than two or three at any one time.  After that, I can begin to really feel the sugar on my teeth.

All that being said …  these are also an incredible tribute to the Marionberry.  Inside the coating of sugar lies a gelled mash-up of Marionberries, and that part of these confections tastes just like the berry.  If the sugar were somehow removed from the confection, you’d have a pure Marionberry flavor.  I even came across a seed or two, and even though I’m not particularly fond of berry seeds because they tend to get stuck between my teeth, I didn’t find these to be bothersome, and seemed to lend some authenticity to the candy.  That is to say, it allowed me to somehow justify eating these sweet treats, because at least part of this was fruit-like.

My Final Thoughts:

Even though they are very sugary, I find these to be enjoyable in small amounts.  My interest is piqued at some of the other varieties of pâte de fruit that Willamette Valley Confectionery offers.  Right now, it appears that they have a “City of Roses” basket of fruit, which is rose infused pear pâte de fruit.  Sounds yummy!

Dark Chocolate Toffees from Valerie Confections

Photo from Foodzie

Product Description:

We love the act of opening a box of Valerie’s toffees, all trussed up with beautiful silk ribbon; it’s almost like you’re undressing it. Inside, handmade rich, buttery toffee, enveloped in dark Valrhona chocolate, beckons. Crunchy, organic California almonds stud the toffee, which is made in small batches, and the whole thing is finished off with fleur de sel for a lingering savory finish.

Tea Suggestion:

While these are delicious enough on their own, everything goes better with a spot of tea!  I chose to pair these toffees with Samovar from Kusmi Tea.  The smoky notes of the tea added a lovely depth to the toffee, and brought a savory quality to the overall experience.

What I Think:

In the Valentine’s Box from Foodzie, I received an elegant little box tied up with a pretty pink ribbon that contained two of Valerie Confections’ Dark Chocolate Toffee squares:  one topped with a whole, roasted almond and one encrusted with a sprinkling of sea salt.

The toffee inside is crunchy and hard, much like what you’d experience when biting in a Heath bar.  But this is WAY better than a Heath!  It is buttery and sweet with a delightful nutty flavor in the background.  What really surprised me is just how buttery these are.  I could taste the sweet, creamy butter with which these were made.

Each piece is enrobed in a thin coating of bittersweet dark chocolate, which offers a pleasing contrast to the sweetness of the toffee.  What I really like about these is how the different toppings change the flavor of the confection, even though inside each square is the same toffee.  The almond topped square brought out the nutty tones to the toffee; while the salt encrusted square brought a compelling roundness to the confection – providing sweet, salty and bitter flavors for the palate to enjoy.

My Final Thoughts:

An immensely enjoyable set of toffees … tasting this treat made me happy that I chose the Valentine’s Box for February!  These were absolutely delicious!