Kitsch-en Kounter: It's A Marshmallow World in the Winter

The other night at a holiday party, the Rice-A-Roni jingle was getting quite a lot of play (not at all unusual for the types of parties I attend).  Once performed, the song is on perpetual replay in everyone's mind until replaced by something equally infectious; the jingle eventually led to intense and provocative discussions of other processed foods and pre-packaged meal-aids like Hamburger Helper and Shake 'N Bake.  With equal parts pride and embarrassment, I had to admit that in all my years, I had never tried any of these products (fancy, name-brand items were reserved for the rich and famous).  For better or worse, we were raised without the benefit of many packaged and processed foods; that meant no "San Francisco Treat," no TV dinners, and definitely no Hostess Sno Ball snack cakes.  

All these years my parents deprived us of  the "Energy snack!"

(Source)

On the way home from the same party we were listening to a stellar, Christmas music mix that included "It's A Marshmallow World," as performed by the inimitable Darlene Love (a welcome replacement for the ringing bell of a San Francisco cable car).  After a full night's sleep of digesting lyrics like "It's a yum-yummy world," "It's a whipped cream day," "In winter it's a marshmallow world," and "The world is your snowball," I kid you not when I woke up and exclaimed aloud, "SNO BALL CAKE!!!"  Thus, the next entry into our wacky tacky Kitsch-en Kounter was born.  It's like the song was written by Hostess as jingle for it's snowy, pink treats.

Obviously, reproduction Sno Balls are not an original concept.

This vintage ad for Swift'ning Shortening shows that cotton 

candy-colored coconut cakes are a perennial favorite.

(Source)

Like a well-formed snowball, all the birthdays in my family are densely packed around the holidays; I knew that the next birthday cake I made had to be an homage to the coconut confection of the same name.

The inspiration - a rich, devil's food cake filled with cream, covered
in a layer of marshmallow and dusted with bright PINK coconut.

Don't get me wrong Mr. Presley, your "Blue Christmas" may be second only in colorful, yuletide magic to Mr. Crosby's "White Christmas," but I think that I have forever been converted to a PINK Christmas! 

I'll have a pink Christmas!
I was surprised to find that a twelve-pack of Sno Balls was just under three dollars - leaving me wondering why it is so much cheaper (in the short run) to eat junk food.  Instead of pondering the complexities of a serious subject like my own place in America's obesity epidemic and healthcare crisis, I grabbed the Sno Balls and a box of Copitos (some strange, pink coconut/marshmallow blob on a chocolate cookie trying to horn in on the pink coconut craze) and made it out of the store for just over four dollars!

My Sno Ball is a three-layer, devil's food cake with whipped-cream filling.
The icing is a pink-tinted, marshmallow buttercream with dyed-to-match coconut.

Now is the time when I must admit that I still have not had an official Sno Ball snack cake; I didn't save any room after indulging in a hefty slice of my own creation.  Beyond their 1940's provenance and ultra-kooky aesthetic (immortalized in John Waters' Hairspray), I think Sno Ball's are best appreciated from afar (or in the form of a homemade dessert).

Our Sno Ball Tableau
My usual more-is-more philosophy kept nagging me as I patted on the last flakes of pale-pink coconut.
I racked my brain for additional decoration ideas until I remembered that I was trying to recreate the
 simplistic beauty of the original Sno Ball.  Even without adornment, the wacky tacky Sno Ball Cake
is sure to have Mr. Tiny dreaming of a pink Christmas!

"It's A Marshmallow World" - Darlene Love

Have you ever had a Sno Ball or Rice-A-Roni for that matter?  In what color do you dream your Christmases? 

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

p.s. If you've got a hankering for a Sno Ball, you're welcome to come over.  I have a dozen with your name on them! Ho-Ho-Hostess, Merry Christmas!