Oven Mint S'mores

Did you know that today is National S'mores Day?  I didn't, until yesterday.  But I guess subconsciously, I did know...since I saw chocolate mint marshmallows (!!!!) in Target last week and felt the need to throw them in my cart.

Oven s'mores are great on days when it's raining, or when it's just too.damn.hot to even step outside for a second to throw them on the grill.  And we've had a LOT of those days lately.

I was excited to try these out since I'd never even seen these marshmallows before...have you?

These were a great change from the old standby.  But honestly, what kind of s'more could possibly be bad?

Oven Mint S'mores
graham crackers
chocolate mint marshmallows
Hershey chocolate bars, separated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Tear pieces of foil, big enough to wrap around each s'more.  Place marshmallow on top of graham cracker, followed by some chocolate, and top with another graham cracker.  Repeat as many times as you like :)

Loosely wrap each s'more in foil and place on baking sheet.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness of chocolate and marshmallows you're using.  Remove from oven and carefully unwrap.  Serve.

Linked to:  Sweets for a Saturday

Marshmallow Fudge Cake

We recently celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday on St. Patrick's Day.  She made delicious corned beef and cabbage, and we ended the meal with her cake request.

Last year, when I made her brown derby cake, she was thrilled.  I thought about using the same chocolate cake recipe this time around, then I saw a more fudge-like recipe on my Ghirardelli cocoa can.  Knowing it couldn't be anything short of awesome, I went to work.

Then, it was off to find a marshmallow frosting recipe that would be sure to please.  I was very happy with the results as far as taste, but unfortunately the looks left a lot to be desired :(  It was the first time I made an icing of this consistency, so I guess I'll just have to keep practicing...

Yikes!

But you know what?  It was awesome.  Like a big devil dog.  SO much better than I imagined it would be.  And that was the general consensus :)

Whose birthday was it, anyway?



Marshmallow Fudge Cake
cake recipe from Ghirardelli, frosting recipe from Pixelated Crumb

for the cake:
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 cups AP flour
1 3/4 sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/3 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

for the frosting (seven minute frosting):
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour two 9 inch round cake pans.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together on medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Reduce speed to low, and add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, scraping bowl after each is added.  Alternately add flour mixture and milk (beginning and ending with flour) while mixing on low.  Continue to mix until smooth.

Pour into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out of middle clean.  Let cool before removing from pans.  Keep cake refrigerated until 15-30 minutes before you're ready to frost.

Combine all frosting ingredients in a large metal or glass bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water.  Make sure bowl is considerably larger than ingredients since they will grow.  Beat on high with handheld mixer until thick and fluffy, about 7 minutes.  Remove bowl from heat and continue mixing until slightly cooled (use frosting day it is made).

Put bottom layer on cake plate and add frosting on top.  Add second layer, then frost top and sides.  Refrigerate until shortly before serving.

If frosting is runny, freeze cake for a little while before putting in the fridge or serving (this is what I ended up having to do!)

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

4th of July themed recipe swap...S'mores for everyone!

How was your holiday weekend?  Ours was nice, although the weather didn't really cooperate on Sunday.  My cousin rescheduled her BBQ for Monday so I had an extra day to make the dessert I planned on bringing...then thought, maybe I can make it ahead so I'm not rushing around in the morning?  Hmmm...better ask Elisha from DeLish, whose recipe I was fortunate enough to get in our latest swap.

Elisha was making her delicious S'mores Bars for a party the next day as well, and assured me they'd be fine.  She's been making this recipe since she was in high school, so I naturally took her word for it.  I made one pan and adapted it just a bit...instead of using chocolate chips on top, I used mini Hershey chocolate bars that I had.

Then I took it one step further and made a "flag" out of the bars.  And yes, you'll have to tilt your head to the right to see what I'm talking about since, for the life of me, I can't get this picture to rotate!  (ugh, I need my other laptop back)

That's about as patriotic as I got with my food this weekend.

As soon as these bars hit the serving table, they were GONE.  All the kids were yelling at their moms to get the recipe from me.  People were taking seconds.  I absolutely should have made another pan...

One word - delish :)  Thanks again, Lishie...these were a huge hit!

S'mores Bars
slightly adapted from DeLish

1 1/2 sticks butter (3/4 cup), at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups crushed graham crackers
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
approximately 25 Hershey miniature milk chocolate bars
3 1/2 cups mini-marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 pan with butter or cooking spray (you can also use two 8x8 pans).

Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  In another bowl, mix graham crackers, flour and salt.  Stir the graham cracker mixture into the wet mixture until it's combined (it will be crumbly and clumpy).

Press around half of the mixture on the bottom of the pan, then top with chocolate chips, followed by 3 cups of the marshmallows.  Crumble the rest of the graham cracker mixture evenly on top, then lay the chocolate bars over it, followed by the remaining marshmallows.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brown.

Linked to: S'mores Roundup