Halloween is fast approaching, and I’ve made a new discovery at the candy shop: Shrimps and Bananas. They are adoreable and tasty. I mean, look at the packaging! Funny happy zoo friends having a snack together. Monty Monkey says, “I want bananas!” Ronni Rhino begins to dance around singing, “Shrimps for me! I love shrimps!” Then Gina, the Giraffe who eats anything, decides “Let’s ALL have shrimps and bananas!” Of course, it’s much cuter when you read it with a British accent.
At first, I thought they were a strange savoury treat, but the kid-friendly package design and the ingredient list (sugar, sugar, and sugar) indicated sweetness. When I felt the packet, I could tell the candies were softish, and I began to suspect they might be related to one of my most favouritest nostalgic treats: the Circus Peanut.
Fresh Circus Peanuts are wonderful sugarbombs. Giant orange peanut shaped cousins to the marshmallow. They have a firm and foamy texture, with a post-peanut hyperactivity warning on the label. Just kidding. But yes, they are kid candy. And no, they do not contain peanuts. On my good-ol’-days candy list, they are second only to the Orange Slice (close relative to the gumdrop, and a Christmas grab bag staple).
The bananas tasted very faintly of banana, and the shrimp tasted absolutely nothing like shrimp . . . more like strawberry maybe? Ginger Man declined to eat them because they were shrimp shaped, but his tastes tend to favour the sour anyway. So, my candy-loving fellows, hie thee to yon sweet shoppe and return forthwith avec Shrimps and Bananas that ye sweet toothe might be appeased.
Curious Domestic 
That bag of candy after the Christmas play. Little brown bag with those sweet treats. Orange slices, chocolate drops-the essence of sugar with sugar, dipped in sugar. All eaten in the shortest time frame possible. Then we wait for Christmas…
Ah yes . . . the chocolate drops. Sometimes there was a real orange in there, too. It’s important to get rid of those before they contaminate the candy with nutrition.
May I ask where you got them from? I’ve just moved to the US and these are my favourite sweets, I was going to ask my mom to send me some, but if I can get them over here, even better. I was trying to explain to my husband what they were, as in the foamy texture, but that turned into a very confusing conversation.
Love the blog = )
I bought these at The Candy Aisle in Vancouver, BC. They do have an online shop, though:
http://www.candyaisle.com/
Old Time Candy is a US online shop with good nostalgic candies including the Circus Peanut.
http://www.oldtimecandy.com/circus-peanuts.htm
British Superstore ships internationally, if you need a giant box of just shrimps 8)
http://www.britsuperstore.com/acatalog/Barratt_Sweets.html
Happy Hunting!
Thank you very much! I will be sure to get a plentiful supply of these sweet treats!
I haven’t had those shrimp sweets in ages – from memory they’re almost too good to give to my children! I haven’t tried the banana ones though they sound good. What intrigues me most however are the ‘circus peanuts’ as I have never heard of them?
Brachs makes a variety of Circus Peanut in the US, and you can find them in pretty much any store with a candy aisle. See the Wiki re: Circus Peanuts.
Can I use your image (with credit and a link of course) of the shrimps and bananas??
Thanks! -Kristin
Thank you for asking. Yes, Kristin, you may use that photo for non-commercial purposes with credit to Curious Domestic and a link back to this post. Cheers!