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“I just feel like my brain is working again,” says Arlene Hopkins, who has turned a long break from her career into a new business, Lushmallows, producing gourmet marshmallows aimed at grown-up palates rather than children. Her flavours and suggested pairings position the confections as an after-dinner treat to be savoured with coffee or wine.
From fashion studios to motherhood
Hopkins studied art in Limerick with a focus on fashion, spent three years travelling, and completed her degree at NCAD. She then spent about a decade working in the fashion industry for Irish suppliers, including firms that supplied Dunnes Stores, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins.
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When she became pregnant with her second child, the travel and pressure of fashion left her feeling burnt out. She stepped away from that world to prioritise her children and the family’s childcare businesses.
Rekindling a love of food
Cooking was always part of Hopkins’s life—she credits both her mother and grandmother—and her time in Asia and Australia deepened that interest. When her daughter Esme was older she trained at the Dublin Cookery School, though that course was interrupted when she became pregnant with her youngest, Gabriel.
In the following years she worked in the family crèches and cooked for the children daily. After about five years, she wanted a new creative outlet. While breastfeeding Gabriel and watching a cookery show, she saw marshmallows being made and realised the confection could carry a range of flavours and stylish finishes.
Elevating a simple sweet
Hopkins reimagined the marshmallow as a refined dessert. Her lineup includes coconut coated with dark chocolate, raspberry with white chocolate and pistachio varieties. She decorates them with an eye for presentation—an influence she traces back to her fashion background—and offers pairing suggestions to emphasise their grown-up appeal.
She advises having one with espresso as a light after-dinner treat. For wine pairings she recommends the coconut with red wine and the raspberry with prosecco or another sparkling drink. Hopkins says her typical buyer is the parent rather than the child: the product is meant to be more patisserie than a simple hot-chocolate addition.
Growing the business and ambitions
Hopkins sells at markets and events, where sceptical customers often change their minds after tasting. She hopes to expand into wedding orders, creating marshmallow towers for ceremonies and receptions.
Beyond commercial goals, the venture has widened her social circle. “I’ve met so many interesting people,” she says, noting that work outside the home has given her both creative satisfaction and renewed energy. Despite progress, she adds there is still much to learn as the business grows.
