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The marshmallow is growing up.

No longer is the sugary treat reserved for cozy summer campfires with the kiddies. From chocolate-raspberry to lemon-drop, tossed in toasted coconut or covered in Belgian chocolate, soft and fluffy or chewy and crunchy, the marshmallow has gone designer - and it's attracting an adult clientele.

The fact that marshmallows - when not covered in chocolate, caramel or peanuts, of course - are fat-free is one attraction for weight-watching adults.

But Stephanie Pick, owner of Toronto bakery The Queen of Tarts, says it's a yearning for childhood that brings customers to the counter with a $5 cellophane bag of her chunky, square, homemade marshmallows.

"Right from the beginning they were really popular. I think it's a nostalgia thing," said Ms. Pick, who has been making them to sell at her store for four years.

The sticky treats have become a favourite for regulars. Ms. Pick prepares a batch of each flavour (she usually features three at a time - toasted coconut, chocolate-dipped raspberry and vanilla bean) every couple of weeks.

At 90 bags a batch, it's a lot of marshmallows. Her most popular flavour is actually the least exotic: vanilla bean.

Susan Mendelson, president of Vancouver catering company The Lazy Gourmet, agrees that nostalgia is a draw for adults. "My generation, which is the baby boomers, we never grew up ... we just want to be big kids."

Ms. Mendelson first discovered the gourmet version of the confection a few years ago at The City Bakery in New York.

"They have this hot chocolate that's really just melted chocolate that you sip, and sitting on top they put a homemade marshmallow. I thought I had died and gone to heaven."

When Ms. Mendelson got back to Canada, she asked her pastry chef to create a version of the giant marshmallow. It's now one of the most popular items at events they cater, often paired with a chocolate fountain so clients can dip as much as they like.

At dinner parties for corporate clients, the Lazy Gourmet crew will whip up a large batch of their famous s'mores-style marshmallow: Starting with a baked graham-wafer crust, the marshmallow is rolled in caramel and dipped in chocolate.

Marshmallows are not the easiest dessert to make at home. But that didn't stop Suzanne Chabot experimenting in her Mansfield, Ont., kitchen, where she and her husband created a product they call Roasted Marshmallows.

Made from the same basic marshmallow ingredients (corn syrup, sugar, dextrose, corn starch and gelatin), her treat is not light and pillowy but chewy and crunchy, almost like a sponge toffee.

With the flavour of fresh-off-the-campfire marshmallows, and a texture similar to the chewy outer layer marshmallows take on when roasted, the burgeoning business idea has been a hit, Ms. Chabot said. She's now looking for a larger production space after finding a distributor interested in marketing the product.

Marshmallow artisans have doubts the designer variety will ever represent a significant chunk of the lucrative marshmallow business - a market that brought in $132-million (U.S.) in the United States last year, up 7.4 per cent from the year before, according to figures from ACNielsen reported in a U.S. newspaper.

The biggest challenge: making them. Gourmet marshmallows may look divine on the shelf, but they create a sticky mess behind the scenes.

"We have a fabulous chocolatier in town and I suggested, 'Why don't you make marshmallows?' " Ms. Mendelson said. "And he said, 'Oh God no,' because it's so sticky to work with."