S’mores on ice cream
If you can’t make it to a campfire this summer, then this cone’s for you
From the clean air to the sparkling lakes and soaring vistas, there’s only one more essential part of spending a weekend in the woods: s’mores.
It just wouldn’t be camping — or glamping or summer, really — without this oozy graham-cracker-chocolate-marshmallow sandwich laced with a campfire’s smokiness.
It’s something everyone loves, says dessert-shop co-owner Jethro Kwan, 23. “But how often can you get a campfire going?”
Well, when you can’t — and if you’re not headed to the great outdoors during the dwindling long weekends of summer — there are a variety of ways to enjoy this must-have treat. One of them, says Kwan, is in icecream form.
The “S’mores on S’mores” is the latest themed treat to hit the barely two-month-old counter at Fugo Desserts at 205 Dundas St. W.
Two scoops of small-batch, home- made Skor-brownie ice cream fill a waffle cone that is encrusted with nuggets of white and dark chocolate, mini marshmallows and crushed graham crackers, all stuck on by marshmallow fluff.
The coup de grâce is another layer of marshmallow fluff smeared over the ice cream scoops, then blowtorched — to make it seem like staff plucked freshly roasted marshmallows right off the smoky skewer. There’s a final squirt of Nutella drizzle on top ($6.99).
It’s gracing menus for the first time this week — so the dessert is simply too new to gauge its popularity with eaters, Kwan says.
But Fugo’s other creations, such as the “Cookie Monster,” have been making the rounds on Instagram. And about 150 to 200 customers a day have been walking out with that and other such specialty cones. Some days, Kwan says, they sell out early. “People show up and get really sad” that they weren’t able to get one, he says.
Though Fugo opened only a few months ago, the business idea began to churn about a year ago. Kwan and business partner Jie Dai, 23, dreamed it up on a chilly afternoon while sitting in a coffee shop near the Keele St. campus of York University.
That’s where the partners have another business, a tutoring business that’s been doing well, Kwan says. With time on their hands, the men wanted to delve into something new.
They toyed with bringing the Hong Kong waffle — an Asian street food item that resembles a patchwork of tiny cake pockets — to the downtown core. And they have. But, the eggy waffle is more a winter thing, Kwan says.
The themed treats are more summer.
The S’mores on S’mores is a frosty homage to the ubiquitous campfire treat: woodsy and crunchy. The best part is the torched marshmallow fluff. Got an idea for Sourced? Email mhenry@thestar.ca