S'mores

I started my first chocolate company, Attivo Confections in 1987. Many products that are now fairly common in the world of gourmet confections were first created at Attivo. This includes the first gourmet S'more in 1989, featuring an organic graham cracker covered with a slab of bittersweet chocolate and a square of homemade marshmallow.

Ingredients:

For the Graham Crackers:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons honey
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup graham flour
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
For the Marshmallows:
3 envelopes of Knox gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Chocolate: These are best with a very high quality bittersweet chocolate such as Scharffen Berger, E. Guittard or Valrhona.

Instructions:

Make the Graham Crackers

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cream the butter, sugars, and honey in a mixer on medium speed until soft and fluffy. Sift together the flours, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon, and put into the mixing bowl. Mix on slow speed until just combined. Using your fingers, press the dough together until it forms a ball.

Flour a clean/dry surface with graham flour and roll out the dough to 12" x 12-inch square and then cut into nine 4-inch squares. Prick the squares with a fork and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake the dough until the top is golden brown, slightly blistered, and dry-looking, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let cool on a rack.

Make the Marshmallows

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water. Soak for 10 minutes. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour boiling syrup into gelatin and mix at high speed. Add the salt and beat for 12 minutes. Add vanilla and incorporate into mixture. Scrape into a 9 x 9-inch pan lined with oiled plastic wrap and spread evenly. (Note: Lightly oil hands and spatula or bowl scraper). After pouring marshmallow mixture into the pan, take another piece of plastic wrap and press mixture into the pan.

Let mixture sit for a few hours. Remove from pan, dredge the marshmallow slab with confectioners' sugar and cut into nine 3" square pieces with kitchen scissors or a very sharp knife. Dredge each piece of marshmallow in confectioners' sugar.

Assemble

Top each graham cracker with a 3-inch square of bittersweet chocolate and a 3-inch square of marshmallow (melted chocolate makes a great "glue" for this. Place assembled S'mores on a baking sheet and place under a broiler (in the middle of the oven, not at the top where they will burn quickly). Watch them very closely and remove once the marshmallow is well browned. Serve.

Makes 9 servings.