S’mores Tartelettes

I don’t think S’mores need any introduction, but in case you’ve been living under a rock, S’mores is an American snack that was invented to improve camping. It’s actually the only reason I would even consider camping.

It goes like this. You build a campfire, sit around it, put marshmallow on a skewer and slowly heat it up close to the fire. Once it’s ready, you put a milk chocolate tablet on it and sandwich it between two biscuits (preferably Graham crackers). The chocolate melts from the warm marshmallow and you get a crazy sandwich oozing with sweetness that disappears all too quickly and hastes you to start making the next one. Hence its name, S’more, which means “Some more”.

However, not every day is a camping day, so here’s my home version of this American ingenuity. The tartelettes crust is made out of biscuits (Not Graham crackers, but close enough! I wish we had those here). The crust is then filled with a milk chocolate filling and topped with a vanilla marshmallow layer. You can simplify the process and just buy the marshmallow, but it’s a lot cooler to make the marshmallow yourself and it’s not that complicated. You can even substitute the inverted sugar in the recipe with honey for the same amount.

The recipe makes 6 tartelettes.

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Ingredients

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Coating
100 g powdered sugar
100 g corn starch

Gelatin Mass
20 g gelatin powder
100 g water

Vanilla Marshmallow
160 g water
250 g sugar
70 g inverted sugar / honey
120 g gelatin mass
110 g inverted sugar / honey
1 tsp vanilla paste

Tartelettes crust
200 g biscuits (preferably Graham crackers)
130 g melted butter

Milk Chocolate Filling
250 g heavy cream
235 g milk chocolate
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt

Equipment
6 round rings with an 8 cm diameter
A round cookie cutter with a 7 cm diameter
2 square rings, 20×20 cm

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Vanilla Marshmallow

Coating: Mix powdered sugar and corn starch together. Set aside.

Gelatin mass:  Sprinkle gelatin powder over the water, mix well and keep in the fridge for at least half an hour. Cut into small pieces before use.

Put water, sugar and 70 g inverted sugar (or honey) in a saucepan. Place on medium/high heat. Stir with a spatula to dissolve the sugar. Once the water starts to boil, stop stirring and remove the spatula. Let the syrup boil to 110 °C (230 °F).

In the meantime, put vanilla paste and 110 grams inverted sugar (or  honey) in a mixing bowl.

AS soon as the syrup reaches 110 °C (230 °F), turn off the stove and add the gelatin mass to the saucepan. Stir until the gelatin is dissolved and then transfer to the mixing bowl. Whisk on high speed for about 10 minutes until you get a white foamy mixture.

In the meantime, grease the two square rings with a thin layer of oil and place them on a tray lined with baking paper. Using a sieve, sprinkle the coating inside the rings to cover the entire surface with a thick layer of coating.

Once the mixture is ready, pour it into the rings up to 1.5 cm of their height. Flatten the surface with a spatula if needed. Sprinkle another layer of coating on top. Cover the marshmallow and let it stand at room temperature for several hours, or even for a whole night, before cutting.

Tartelettes crust

In a food processor, grind biscuits into powder. Transfer to a bowl and add melted butter. Mix until the mixture is moist and has the consistency of wet sand.

Place the round rings on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Line the rings with a thin layer of the biscuit mixture. Flatten the base using the bottom of a measuring cup and arrange the sides with your fingers. Keep in the freezer.

Milk Chocolate Filling

Preheat oven to 175 °C (350 °F).

Break or cut the chocolate into small pieces and put them in a bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a boil and pour over chocolate. Let it stand for half a minute and then mix well to fully dissolve the chocolate.

Add salt and egg and whisk well together. Transfer to a measuring pitcher.

Putting it all together!

Remove the crusts from the freezer and pour the filling into each crust almost to the end. Place in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, until the edge of the filling has set but the center is still a bit wobbly. Remove from the oven and let them cool a little. Keep in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Using the round cookie cutter, cut round pieces from the marshmallow layer. After each cut, pass a knife at the bottom to make sure the marshmallow is not stuck to the surface. Release the marshmallow from the ring by passing a knife between them. Place each marshmallow layer on a tartelette. Clean the cookie cutter and the knife after each cut. If things start to get messy and sticky, sprinkle some more coating.

The tartelettes keep in the fridge for two to three days. Before serving, use a burner carefully to burn the marshmallow. (Oh yeah!)

Yum