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