M&M’s White Chocolate Marshmallow Review
There’s a marshmallow plant. A marshmallow plant, ya’ll. Althaea officinalis is a perennial species from Europe Western Asia, and North Africa. It produces a beautiful white flower that blooms. It’s disappointing that it’s not a plant with actual marshmallows growing off the leaves and stems. My brain had a split-second image of a marshmallow plant with actual marshmallows growing on it. And it was in cartoon. That would have been a way cooler plant.
Anyway, so this Althaea officinalis was used medicinally by the Egyptians. They ground the soft, spongy root and added honey to create a chewy, sweet substance that helped heal ailments. Fast forward in time to 19th-century France, where candy makers were able to get the sap out of the marshmallow plant (genius!). They would whip it (who the hell thought, “let’s whip the sap and see what happens.”) into a fluffy type candy that looked most like modern marshmallows. But the sap took a really long time to get, so they substituted the sap for egg whites and gelatin. Boom. Marshmallows.
And that, friends, is the weird evolution of the marshmallow. It all started with the marshmallow plant. We now enjoy bags of marshmallows in several flavors and forms. And marshmallow flavoring is used in tons of confections now. That includes the new M&M’s White Chocolate Marshmallow that just came out for Easter 2019.
The white chocolate and marshmallow taste offer a very unique flavor together. This is one of those candies that you’ll need to eat several of to really get a feel for the taste. Not because they are so good….but because the flavor is so odd and hard to identify with… because it’s confusing. White chocolate – check. Yes, that’s there, and it’s a waxy, standard white chocolate. It’s semi-creamy and just kind of meh. But it’s definitely identifiable. The marshmallow is in there, but definitely not identifiable. If I didn’t know this was a white chocolate marshmallow flavored candy, I can honestly say I would probably never have recognized the marshmallow.
There’s a distinct aftertaste in these. It’s not bad, but it’s not super delicious, either. It’s not white chocolate, but it’s not marshmallow. It’s a confection aftertaste. Just a processed sugar with a bit of cream blended in it – that’s what the aftertaste is. A creamy sugar. And oddly enough, that description could go with either white chocolate OR marshmallow.
There’s something there for sure…but marshmallow? Not really. It’s more like those marbits – which are the marshmallows in Lucky Charms cereal. That hard, crunchy, candy marshmallow with a 75-year shelf life – that’s what this flavor is. It’s not a marshmallow you would toast in a s’more or float in your hot chocolate. It’s just not the same flavor. I can see where they tried, and perhaps the white chocolate wasn’t the best choice for the pairing of flavors. However, a milk chocolate M&M with this marshmallow taste would have been more like hot cocoa. And that’s been done.
These are just ok. I definitely wouldn’t buy them again or get excited seeing them on the shelves. Trying them was more of a novelty – something I did just so I can say I did it (and review them for you guys). If you like being the first of your friends to try new things, go get them. Otherwise, I would honestly just skip this newest product from M&M’s, and impress your friends with the marshmallow plant knowledge you now possess.
Summary
Meh. It was a noble effort, but the white chocolate and marshmallow combo really doesn't work.
