Aplets and Cotlets and Almond Roca…Who’s Gonna Win?
There’s quite the battle going on in the state of Washington. Seems state Rep. Mike Armstrong is planning on introducing a bill to designate Aplets & Cotlets, manufactured in Cashmere, Washington, as Washington’s official confectionery. According to the YakimaHerald.com Online News, Aplets are powdered-sugar-covered cubes with apple-gelatin insides infused with walnuts. Cotlets have apricot-gelatin innards. They’ve been made by Liberty Orchards in Cashmere since 1920. Hmmm. Sounds tasty. So what’s the problem?
Well, this isn’t the first time Washington tried to name an official candy. First off, fans of another Washington-made candy made it known that they’d rather see the Almond Roca (a log-shaped, chocolate-almond-toffee concoction manufactured in Tacoma since 1923 by Brown and Haley) be honored when Armstrong tried to get a similar bill passed several years ago. That bill died, as did one in 2001 trying to name Almond Roca as the official candy. Now, Armstrong is trying again.
I think it’s interesting that they are thinking of naming a brand-name item as an official state anything, since it’s free advertising, you’re tying the state’s name to a company, and all that. And in case you’re wondering, there are no other states that have designated a brand-name product. But several do have official sweets, with Massachusetts leading the way. They have a state cookie (chocolate chip), a state donut (Boston creme), and a state dessert (Boston creme pie). Missouri’s official dessert is the ice cream cone, while Florida’s official pie is Key lime.