S'mores.

If you have been following my blog you will see that I made a S'more-inspired cake recently.  Being Scottish, I didn't really have much idea about what a s'more was.

Kim from Everyday Mom left this comment on my post, "If you haven't tried a s'more - just a chunk of chocolate, roasted marshmallow and graham cracker give it a try. Especially if you can roast the marshmallow over a fire".  Well, I had a fire burning last night and I have plenty of Graham's crackers left over from making the cake, so I had to give them a try.

I was sure the chocolate was supposed to be melty and didn't quite know how to make that happen so I looked up the S'mores entry on Wikipedia which informed me that the heat from the toasted marshmallows should be enough to melt the chocolate.  And, it worked!

Okay, so for an authentic experience I think you are supposed to be on a scout camp making these round the camp fire but doing them on my own by the fire was still a lovely evening activity.

Take a Graham cracker, snap it in half, place a square of chocolate on one, toast your marshmallows, place on top of the chocolate and then put the other half of the cracker on top to make a sandwich.  I also spread my first cracker with peanut butter - perfect combination of flavours!

Okay, so I'm a convert.  Steve and I can't wait to take the boys camping for the first time.  The only thing stopping us (apart from the current weather) is that we don't have a tent big enough to accommodate our Irish wolfhound.  With any luck we can borrow or steal a big one in time for this summer and guess what we'll be making round the camp fire?  The boys are gonna love this!  Can't wait.

The Cake Slice Bakers - Challenge 4 - January 2011 - Graham Cracker - Chocolate Chip Snacking Cake.

This is the cake we made this month from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman and, Look!, I now have a cake keeper.  This was a Christmas gift from my in-laws and I love it.  I can now keep the cake I make fresh but on display on the counter - lovely.

So, this cake is made to be like the American S'mores.  I had never heard of these until recently.  An American friend of mine made us some S'more bars which she brought with her for us to eat on a girlie spa day.  They were heaven and I should really get the recipe from her.  Unfortunately this cake doesn't match up to those.  It is nice enough but not a recipe that I would really be craving.  Rufus and I enjoyed most of these cakes served with strawberries and ice-cream and that seemed to be the best way to eat them and really made us say "yum" whereas, on their own, they were a little bit dry and boring.  I think partly because I had overcooked them a little.  

Recipe - 

Ingredients - 

For the cake - 

8 whole Graham crackers, finely ground (about 1 cup)

1/4 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the frosting - 

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup Marshmallow fluff (I just used the whole jar)

Method - 

Make the cake - 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and dust it with flour, knocking out any extra.  Combine the Graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

2. Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 mins, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  With the mixer on low speed, add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat until smooth.

3. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then 1/2 of the milk, stirring until combined.  Repeat with the remaining flour and milk, ending with the flour.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 35 mins (this was a touch too long, probably check at 25 mins).  Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 mins.  Invert it onto a wire rack, and then turn it right side up onto a rack to cool completely.

Make the frosting - 

1. Place the butter in a medium mixing bowl and beat until creamy.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Stir in the vanilla and the Marshmallow Fluff and beat until smooth.  Use immediately or cover the bowl with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

2. Cut the cake into squares and serve each one with a dollop of frosting on top.  Store uneaten squares in a cake keeper at room temperature for up to 3 days.

If you don't have Graham crackers, you can substitute digestive biscuits but I decided to get them as I was intrigued as to what they were.  They actually taste a lot like Rich Teas to me.  Now I need to figure out what I am going to do with the other 16 I have so I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Also, if you don't have Marshmallow Fluff, you can simply melt down some marshmallows and use that instead.

Here is the link to The Cake Slice Bakers Blogroll to see how other members got on this month.