Cotton candy
Cotton candy, also known as candy floss (candyfloss) and fairy floss, is a spun sugar confection that resembles cotton. It usually contains small amounts of flavoring or food coloring.
Spinning cotton candy at a fair | |
| Alternative names | Candy floss (candyfloss), fairy floss |
|---|---|
| Type | Confectionery |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Created by | William Morrison and John C. Wharton |
| Main ingredients | Sugar, food coloring |
It is made by heating and liquefying sugar, and spinning it centrifugally through minute holes, causing it to rapidly cool and re-solidify into fine strands. It is often sold at fairs, circuses, carnivals, and festivals, served in a plastic bag, on a stick, or on a paper cone.
It is made and sold globally, as candy floss in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa, as fairy floss in Australia, as "daddy's beard" in France, as "girl's hair" in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as "girl’s yarn" in Egypt. Similar confections include Korean kkul-tarae and Iranian pashmak.