Sour Cherry Cotton Candy

"Cotton candy conjures up good-time memories of a summer carnival or the county fair. It seems almost magical how something so simple (spun sugar with added flavors & colors) could yield such powerful nostalgia. Now, for the first time, we’re offering Trader Joe’s Cotton Candy, which delivers carnival-level nostalgia, but with a recipe that stays true to our commitment to avoid artificial flavors & synthetically-derived colors.

We chose a Sour Cherry profile, unique among our selection of tart candies. Our supplier combines sugar with citric acid (for tartness) and natural flavors to create this fun, puckery flavor. They use a combination of vegetable juice, turmeric, and annatto (from the seeds of the achiote tree) to naturally produce the vibrant pink color. The pink sugar is heated and the resulting liquid is spun—using a modern version of the method created way back in 1897 that debuted at the 1904 World’s Fair—to yield wispy, Cotton-like “floss,” (as they call it across the pond) that melts delightfully on the tongue with a pleasant pucker-inducing Sour Cherry aroma and taste.

Rather than presenting it on a stick, we’ve tucked ours gently into 1.5-ounce tubs so you can gleefully pluck fingers-full at a time and inconspicuously take your Cotton Candy along to the park, to the beach, camping... anywhere you might crave that magical Cotton Candy feeling and flavor."