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Sweet Love

Float on air, and Candie Clouds, this Valentine’s Day

Love can make you feel as if there are butterflies in your stomach, like you’re falling head over heels or that you’re on cloud nine. Heads somersaulting over heels feels a little scary and unsafe, and who wants anything fluttering anywhere in their body? But cloud nine? Ahhh… now that sounds nice. What if cloud nine was, in fact, a cloud, but one that was made of delicious cotton candy? What if you could have it any time? For birthdays, grown-up get-togethers, a graduation party, or for the sweetest component, besides your significant other, to your Valentine’s Day adventures.

In 2020, when the world shut down, Crystal Jensen’s daughter was about to celebrate her 7th birthday, and sadly, the cake maker Crystal usually turned to for all her celebratory goodies had gone out of business. Her daughter wanted a movie theater-themed birthday party complete with an outdoor movie with friends, so a mom did what moms do. Crystal bought a commercial cotton candy maker. “Go big or go home,” she says with a smile. It was a perfect substitute for a birthday cake and, for the time, a safe alternative as well. Plus, that blissful stickiness reserved for the outdoors instead of your walls and furniture? Count every parent on the planet in. “I had a blast practicing making cones, but I might’ve cried a few times,” Crystal admits with a laugh. “We all needed a little pick-me-up around that time, and I had so much fun with it.” Her entrepreneurial spirit took the reins, and Candie Clouds, a gourmet cotton candy small woman-owned and run business, was successfully spun into so much more than your favorite fair treat that leaves you with a colorful tongue.   

Candie Clouds always has something new and exciting for the season. Think cotton candy snowballs for winter, along with the usual delectable treats such as Candie bombs with edible glitter (just add 7up or champagne!) and custom-labeled tubs filled with the fluffy stuff topped with sprinkles. This February, a little tenderness and the sweet smell of sugary delights can be in the air at your family dinners or romantic date nights with her newest joy-filled creations. Order everyone at your table their very own heart-shaped Valentine’s Day push-up pop filled with grape and strawberry cotton candy, or spread the love and flossy goodness to all the loves in your life with mini heart cakes made of strawberry cotton candy. And yes, her beautiful 10-inch cakes are always available (they do slice just like a real cake, to answer your question). But, while Cupid is shooting his arrows this month, Crystal is doing a special flavor combo of pink vanilla, strawberry, and grape adorned with cute heart-shaped décor.

Back when Candie Clouds was just a twinkling sugar speck in Crystal’s eye, nobody knew just how much they needed a few tubs of airy yumminess to turn their day around or that simply fixing their eyes on its pastel hue would take them back to the magic of sugar dissolving in their mouths… and carefree fun. But we do now. And what’s more, the soft charm of each interaction Candie Clouds has with those they serve is the magic touch that we’d argue surpasses the delight of each ethereal bite of heaven they spin. https://www.candieclouds.com/