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Cotton candy

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"Candyfloss" redirects here. For the novel, see Candyfloss (novel).

Image:Spinning candy floss.jpg

Image:Spinning-candy-floss-machine.jpg

Cotton candy (American English), candy floss (British English), or fairy floss (Australian English) is a form of spun sugar.

1 Introduction
2 Operation and Serving
3 Popularity
4 Sugar content
5 Trivia
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Introduction

Cotton candy was introduced to the world as "Fairy Floss"[1] with great success (selling 68,655 boxes at the then high price of US$0.25 - half the cost of admission to the St. Louis World's Fair itself.)

[edit] Operation and Serving

Modern machines work in much the same way as the original. The center part of the machine consists of a small bowl into which sugar is poured and food coloring added. Heaters near the rim melt the sugar and it is spun out through myriad tiny holes where it solidifies in the air and is caught in a large metal ring. The operator twirls a stick or a cone (or the more experienced ones use their hands) around the rim of the large catching bowl and picks up the candy.

Because cotton candy consists of mostly air portions, servings are large. A typical cotton candy cone will be a little bigger than an adult's head.

[edit] Popularity

Many people consider eating cotton candy and candy apples part of the quintessential experience of a visit to a fairground or circus. It is also a popular snack at circus shows. The most popular color of cotton candy is pink, and it is also popular in a trio of pink, purple and blue. Eating cotton candy is only part of the attraction, however - watching it being made often fascinates children and adults alike. It is sweet and sticky, and though it feels like wool to the touch it readily melts in the mouth. It does not have much of an aroma although the machine itself has a cooked sugar smell when in operation. Cotton candy is soft when dry, but when it comes in contact with moisture, it becomes sticky.

[edit] Sugar content

Although they are bad for the teeth as are all sugary snacks, they are not particularly high in food energy because they contain a fairly small amount of sugar. A typical cotton candy contains less sugar than a can of most soft drinks.