Invigorated, Alexx knew what she had to do. “I called the job I was supposed to take,” she says, “and I said, ‘Sorry, I think I’m starting a marshmallow company. I can’t come.”
Alexx Shuman, the Marshmallow Girl, samples what will eventually become her signature treat. Photo: Colette Kulig
What is the link between Le Cordon Bleu—the famed Paris culinary institute—and that ooey-gooey treat, the marshmallow? As far as I can tell, it’s Alexx Shuman, self-proclaimed Marshmallow Girl, graduate of the former, maker of the latter, and owner and creative force behind The Vermont Marshmallow Co., headquartered in South Burlington.
After graduation, the road to marshmallow making was not straight—the thought of doing so, not on the horizon. Instead, Alexx pursued restaurant work in Boston and South Carolina. But the long hours, low pay, and the difficult culture were not to her liking. “I started to lose hope, thinking this thing that I thought was supposed to be mine, can’t be.” In Boston, she began writing promotional material for a new catering company, went to graduate school, moved to the south of France, and wrote about food while working remotely for a tutoring company based in Boston. She returned to Vermont to see her family and decided that at the beginning of the new year, she would take a full-time job with the tutoring company.
In early December 2019, her mother suggested they make marshmallows, something they had never done before. While they worked, something clicked. Maybe there was a route back to her culinary ambitions.
Realizing her time was short, just three weeks before she moved to Boston to take a marketing job, she worked harder than an elf, spending most of her time making, packaging, and selling hundreds of marshmallows. By the end of the month, her sales, all online, topped $1,000.
Invigorated, Alexx knew what she had to do. “I called the job I was supposed to take,” she says, “and I said, ‘Sorry, I think I’m starting a marshmallow company. I can’t come.’”
MAKING MARSHMALLOW MAGIC
The Vermont Marshmallow Co.’s marshmallows have seven ingredients, plus flavors: sugar, corn syrup (not high fructose), golden syrup—a UK import that has a deep, caramelized flavor— vanilla, water, gelatin, and salt. The process to turn these into treats is precise and time-consuming.
But the result, marshmallows sized perfectly for s’mores and packed 10 to a bag, is worth the effort.
The package Alexx handed me was heavier than I expected. How could the marshmallows be as “Pillowy. As. Heck,” as Alexx describes them? But they are. It seems impossible to eat one in a single bite. Even two bites might be a challenge. But why rush the exquisite sweetness and texture and taste? And these are just the “plain” marshmallows, billed as “Toasty Vanilla.”
FLAVORS BEYOND VANILLA
Alexx creates additional marshmallow magic with her flavors, which she sources from local growers when she can. In winter, seasonal offerings include Peppermint, Gingerbread, Butter Rum, and Dulce De Leche, a customer favorite. For Valentine’s Day, offerings switch to Passion Fruit Coconut and Strawberry Rose.
Try finding those flavors of marshmallows at your grocery store. And while you’re there, good luck finding marshmallows with an ingredient list as simple as The Vermont Marshmallow Co.’s. Try finding marshmallows without preservatives.
“I would rather have a slightly shorter shelf life,” Alexx says, “and preserve the purity or the soul of the marshmallow.” The good news is that if you have the willpower to make them last, you can put them in the freezer and take them out as needed.
Six years since that fateful December, Alexx has grown The Vermont Marshmallow Co. into a thriving business with two full-time, long-term employees, Thea Dicey and Katelyn Whitman. But she likes to remind herself where it started. Every Saturday in the warmer months, you can find her at the Burlington Farmers’ Market, selling her sweets like this was a passion project. Because it still is.
