S'more and Scouts

Rob told me that he was going to create a  s'mores cake.  He was shocked to learn that I don't like s'mores and never made them while sitting around a campfire.  (The only campfire I recall attending was at the age of 23. It involved Budweiser and a boyfriend who, as it turned out, was sharing his flame with other young women.)  Rob asked if I had been a girl scout.  Well, yes I had been a junior cadet; however, that did not mean I was interested in earning campfire or s'mores badges. (I doubt there was a s'mores badge back then.)  My focus was on creating a paper mache' turtle because I wanted the artist's badge.  As it turned out, I should have been able to earn a counseling badge.  One evening as we gathered for our scout meeting and began to say the girl scout pledge, one of our fellow scouts burst into tears.  We rallied around her with great compassion and concern as she announced her mother was going to have a baby.  As she gasped for breath and the tears streamed down her cheeks, she cried out that her parents were too old to have another baby.  (They were old to us but they were in their early 30s.) When our leader said it was a guaranteed way to earn a babysitting badge, that put our friend over the edge and there was no hope of salvaging the meeting.  The paper mache' turtle would not earn a badge for me that night.  I did tell Rob that I would try the s'mores cake but made no promises that I would be a s'mores convert.  The recipe he chose is below.

S’mores Cake by John Kanell

website: https://preppykitchen.com/smores-cake/

Ingredients

          For the Cake

•  1 1/4 cup all purpose flour 150g
•  3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs 63g
•  1 tsp baking powder 4g
•  1/2 tsp salt
•  1/2 tsp baking soda 3g
•  1/2 tsp cinnamon 1g
•  1/4 tsp allspice 250mg
•  1 cup unsalted butter 230g, room temp
•  1/2 cup sugar 100g
•  1/2 cup light brown sugar 100g
•  3 large eggs
•  1 egg white
•  1/2 cup buttermilk 118mL
•  1/2 cup sour cream 115g
•  1 tbsp vanilla 15mL
•  

  For the crumble

  4 graham crackers roughly crumbled
  

  4 tbsp unsalted butter 42g, melted

  1/2 tsp cinnamon 1g

  1 pinch salt

  1/4 tsp all spice 250mg

  For the Buttercream

  1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 340g, room temp

  1 1/2 pounds powdered sugar 680g

  1 tsp salt

  1 cup dark or semisweet chocolate 175g, melted and cooled

  For the Fluff

  1 cup sugar 200g

  1/2 cup light corn syrup 118mL

  4 large egg whites room temp

  1/4 tsp salt
•  

  For the Chocolate Drizzle

  3/4 cup dark chocolate melted and cooled

  Instructions

  For the Cake Set oven to 350F. Butter and flour 3 6" cake pans (I recommend using cake stripes as well. Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the buttermilk, vanilla and sour cream.Cream the butter in a stand mixer and add sugars. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and white in one at a time mixing until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture in alternating batches. Starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, give the bowl a final scrape with a spatula to get any unmixed parts on the sides and bottom. Pour batter into your pans and bake for about 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center.
  

• For the Buttercream Beat the butter until light and fluffy, add in confectioner's sugar in several batches and beat until incorporated. Drizzle in melted chocolate and mix until well combined. If buttercream is too thick at this point you can add some cream or milk, a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. 

  For the Fluff Add 2/3 cup sugar and corn syrup to a small sauce pot and heat on medium high. Track the temperature with a candy thermometer you will want to pour into the egg whites when it is 240F.In a stand mixer start beating the egg whites starting on low but gradually gradually increasing to medium-high speed. Add in 1/3 cup of sugar while the egg whites are stiffening. Once you are at the soft peak stage slowly drizzle in the 240F sugar syrup into the mixer.Allow the mixer to run for about 10 minutes to allow the fluff to cool. You can use immediately, if the fluff looses it's texture give it a good whisk or run the mixer for a few seconds to bring it back.
  For the Crumble Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs together well.Flatten out to about 1/4" onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Bake for about 10 minutes at 350F or until you see a slight browning. Allow to cool and then crumble the mixture roughly allowing some larger pieces to remain.  

  Assembling

  Pipe a ring of the chocolate buttercream on each layer and fill with marshmallow fluff. Sprinkle with graham cracker crumble and drizzle with melted chocolate.Apply a thin crumb coat and allow to set in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Coat with chocolate buttercream, smooth edges with an offset spatula.Press cracker crumbs onto the bottom third of the cake and then pipe the fluff onto the top. Flame the fluff with a torch and cake is ready to serve. 

  

  
   
  

  

  
    The result of Rob's passion for baking and hard work can be seen above.  I will not change my mind about roasting s'mores over a campfire, but his work of art tastes scrumptious.    When I think of a cozy fire, my thoughts no longer turn to Budweiser or that former flame thrower boyfriend. Instead, they turn to the holiday yule log that burns 24/7 thanks to tv stations that play the looped video of a wood burning fireplace. It will soon be airing once again. In our current state of virtual life, do you think the yule log video would qualify for a virtual campfire girl scout badge?  If it does, I'm in.  Thank you for stopping by and spending time with us.