S’mores spinoffs to make you melt
Jazz up classic treat with homemade marshmallow and other sweet stylings
Messy, sticky, warm and sweet, s’mores are a treat that needs no recipe. The combination of fireroasted marshmallow, sturdy graham crackers and melty milk chocolate remains a classic for a reason.
Lately, it’s become my go-to weekend snack thanks to a backyard fire pit and my longtime devotion to homemade marshmallows. My stepfather gathers the wood and builds a fire, my mom brings out blankets and we watch the flames dance in the darkness, skewering marshmallow after marshmallow for as many s’mores as our stomachs will allow.
But you don’t need a fire pit, and, as Ina would say, storebought marshmallows are fine. You can make s’mores over a campfire or beach bonfire, in front of a gas fireplace or stove burner, with a candle or microwave or propane torch. (But whatever you do, don’t make s’mores without warming up the marshmallow so it can melt the chocolate a little bit — that’s the best part!)
You don’t need to follow the traditional Girl Scout recipe, either. One night, when we ran out of graham crackers, I got creative with a couple of almost-stale chocolate chip cookies. I’ve made s’mores with gingersnaps and dark chocolate; saltines and nougat; cherry jam and gianduja (a chocolate hazelnut spread); Oreos and banana slices; white chocolate and fresh raspberries; and an ill-fated, extremely messy affair involving KitKats.
Making marshmallows
Plush and squishy as a stress ball, a homemade marshmallow is pure sweetness and air. Pleasantly chewy, it melts easily on the tongue, a seemingly magical alchemy of sugar and protein.
But it’s just candy chemistry at work: Sugars and proteins are heated and whipped before they’re cooled and cut. Modern marshmallows no longer contain sap from their namesake, Althaea officinalis, the marshmallow plant. Whether mass produced or homemade, they rely instead on gelatin for their structure, but there are dozens of ways to make a marshmallow. Some recipes use a combination of egg whites and gelatin, while some depend on agar agar for a vegan product. Granulated sugar is the default sweetener, but glucose, fructose, honey and corn syrup may also be added. The type of sugar and protein, along with the temperature to which the sugars are heated, are variables that alter the texture, melting point, bounciness and shelf stability of the final candy.
Regardless, once heated and whipped, the candy sets into a network of sweet, elastic air bubbles, perfect for floating in a mug of hot chocolate, melting in a microwave experiment or roasting over an open fire.
For this recipe, you’ll need a stand mixer and an instant-read or candy thermometer. Powdered, unflavored gelatin is bloomed in water while a mixture of sugar and corn syrup is boiled until it reaches 238 degrees, or softball stage on a candy thermometer. The hot syrup is then carefully poured over the gelatin and then whipped until it’s thick and bright white. A touch of salt and vanilla gives the candy some depth. Once set, it’s cut into squares and tossed in confectioners’ sugar.
There’s nothing wrong with store-bought marshmallows, but they can’t compete with the homemade variety, which glisten as they toast and melt into soft, sweet puffs of perfect fluff.