The Frozen S'more

Something I've learned in my life is that the one thing more popular than S'mores is the idea of S'mores. I've seen it more times than I can count; someone brings the ingredients, that intrepid individual maybe even gets a few made, but before long everyone is forgoing the toasting and just snacking on grahams, marshmallows, and chocolate. Let's face it after cramming your face full of BBQ and beer they're a hassle, which is a shame because they are, in all their simplicity, perfect. 

So, still riding this frozen treat wave I've been on all summer, I set out to further simplify the S'more with an incredibly convoluted process...you heard me. Anyway, I did sticks last time and chocolate cookies are just tops so here to kick off the send off of the summer BBQ season is the Frozen S'more Sandwich. 

Quick disclaimer for those of you who don't follow my exploits on Instagram (@nickwoost hint hint) I can in fact cook things (quite ably I might add) other than frozen treats. This won't be a "dessert blog" so to speak but dessert is my favorite course and I've been killing ice cream lately so I wanted one more before moving on to a different course that way I can really let everyone down next week.

Special Equipment

Metric kitchen scale

Glass or enamel casserole dish

Kitchen Aid stand mixer & Kitchen Aid ice cream bowl add-on or any ice cream make

Tamis/Drum Sieve
Chinois/Cone Strainer

2.5 - 3" round cookie cutter - I used a mason jar lid

Silpat silicone baking mats

Small food chopper or food processor 

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

The similarities between this and the vanilla ice cream are no accident. That vanilla recipe is somewhat of a golden rule to follow for making ice cream. It's just a matter of finding what to remove and replace. In this case 175 grams of marshmallow for 1 cup of milk. However this recipe is more complicated than last week. The initial stage of the custard has 3 highly temperature sensitive processes going on at once so be sure to have everything ready, otherwise known as mise en place, to facilitate a more fluid transition between steps.

175g mini marshmallows

150g egg yolks

166g raw sugar

1 Cup whole milk

2 Cups heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla paste

heavy pinch of salt

Broil marshmallows in casserole dish at 350, stirring each time the top begins to brown, until the entire mixture is an even golden brown. As the mixture begins to appear mostly browned begin warming the milk, cream, and vanilla in a small saucepan over medium heat to just below a simmer. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl to thicken. Remove the marshmallow from the oven and give it a stir. Pour the hot milk/cream into a spouted container and gently whisk it into the eggs to temper them (remember not to go too fast to avoid curdling the yolks). Strain the egg-cream mixture through the tamis into a larger saucepan. Add the marshmallow paste. There may be hard clumps of toasted marshmallow initially, they will dissolve for the most part. Cook the custard gently over medium heat, stirring briskly to break up the marshmallow, until steaming and thick enough to coat a wooden spoon (remember the finger trail test). Strain the custard through the chinois into an ice bath, stir in a heavy pinch of salt, and cool until warm. Chill 7-24 hours (this custard is so front loaded with sugar that there are no complex flavors like vanilla that need to bloom overnight). 

Process in an ice cream machine and spread in a pan lined heavily with plastic wrap. Wrap it all 

up and press it mostly even. Freeze until hard enough to cut out with a cookie cutter.

It doesn't need to be perfectly smooth, that would be impossible.

Triple Chocolate Cookies

I'm wandering in the Guy Fieri zone with these and if the results weren't so delicious I'd hate myself a lot more. The marshmallow ice cream is potent so I wanted a cookie rich enough to not get buried under it. Cocoa powder and two types of chocolate did the job. Just make a dentist appointment now and save yourself the trouble.

A quick note on chocolate: Splurge. Chocolate in all its forms is one of those things that improves with how much you spend. I listed the brands I used and all are readily available and don't cost too much but exist toward the higher end of the spectrum.

190g all purpose flour

48g Valrhona unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder

2.3g baking soda

3g kosher salt

134g dark brown sugar

104g sugar

12g unsulfered molasses

167g unsalted butter, room temperature

60g eggs

110g Ghiradelli 70% chocolate, chopped roughly into 3/8" pcs

110g Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

Sift flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda into a large bowl, whisk in salt. Stir sugars and molasses together in a small bowl. Strain chocolate chunks to remove tiny pieces, mix chunks with the chips. 

Cream butter in stand mixer with paddle at medium-low until soft peaks just begin to form. Mix in the sugar/molasses until fluffy, scrape down sides and bottom of bowl. Add eggs at low to just combine, scrape bowl. Add flour mix in 2 batches at low, scraping bowl each time. Add chocolate and pulse to combine. Scrape and stir by hand one final time. Chill dough 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with Silpats. Spoon rough ~1" balls spaced 2" apart onto sheets. Bake 14-16 minutes. The cookies are so dark and so gooey you won't be able to tell by sight or a toothpick test that they are done. At around the 15 minute mark you will however smell it start to take on a smokey aroma. Just trust yourself, when they smell done they're done. Cool cookies in pan on a wire rack 7 minutes then directly on rack completely. 

Lethal.

Graham Crumble

9 graham crackers, broken up

5 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 Tbsp sugar

Heat oven to 350.

Chop crackers in chopper until mostly fine. Add butter and sugar and process to incorporate. Pour evenly into small pan. Bake 15-18 minutes until browned and fragrant. Let cool. Pound into mostly fine crumble in plastic bag, return to small baking pan for assembly.

Assembly

Select two cookies of similar size. Cut out an ice cream round and gently form it onto one cookie. Place the second on top. Sprinkle the graham crumble along the rim. 

House it.

That's two entries! I have a new personal best. I wasn't planning on doing this until next weekend but the whole thing came together so easily that I saw no reason not to share it tonight. For those of you that read it thanks for coming back for seconds.

Labor Day Weekend this week so I'm looking to get back to where I cut my teeth in cooking with some BBQ.