Altering Alton: S'mores

Another post of Altering Alton, but it's more of a modification of the traditional application of s'mores. A concoction of marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker, this fare is typically enjoyed around a bonfire. But I thought you could make it a high-class dessert for cheap (I am a grad student, you know).

So what did I do that was altering the normal application. First, I did use Alton's application for making marshmallows, but I made my marshmallows the size of half of a graham cracker you buy in your local megamart. Nothing deviating from the norm so far.

Second, my initial inspiration for trying to make s'mores inside the apartment came from another Serious Eats recipe for Spicy S'mores. My first attempt at making the chocolate sauce was a huge failure. I had heated up the chocolate to melt it and thought I could add some heavy cream to add volume. Bad idea. When you add cream to melted chocolate, the chocolate will harden quickly. No pictures of this catastrophe (because I threw it out before the SO could grab her camera...whew).

But I wasn't turned away, not just yet. I thought I could try making the chocolate sauce I made for the SO when she was on the low-iodine diet (LID), which involves the recipe for Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" chocolate frosting on the back of the container for Hershey's Cocoa: Natural Unsweetened. In place of milk, I made coconut milk from dried, unsweetened organic shredded coconut and water. In place of butter, I used canola oil. And I skipped using vanilla. The key to this is adding more coconut milk and less confectioner's sugar than the recipe, er, application calls for. This will make the frosting more like a sauce, which is great for dipping graham crackers.

I covered a cookie sheet with parchment and placed the dipped graham crackers on the sheet and put the cookie sheet in the freezer for an hour. Once the chocolate hardened, I put the crackers in a Tupperware and into the fridge until I needed them.

From here, I pre-heated the broiler and put my marshmallows on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. With the cookie sheet near the top of the oven, I waited about 40 seconds and the marshmallows had that burnt crispy layer on top. With two chocolate-dipped graham crackers placed on top of one another, I put the marshmallow on top and drizzled chocolate sauce to make everything look professional.

The verdict: perfection. I would love to make my own graham crackers, and that will be my next experiment. But everyone who had them wanted more, so I must be doing something right.