The appeal of fire pit s’mores eludes me completely
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- July 21, 2023
- 619
There’s one summer treat everyone seems to enjoy but has never held much charm for me, though the environment where they’re usually served is pretty great. The appeal of s’mores eludes me — completely.
Around the backyard fire pit, with a belly full of barbecue, someone announces dessert. Then out come the bags of marshmallows, chocolate bars and graham crackers. I have no sweet tooth unless it is something with my wife’s salted caramel sauce, which is the best thing anyone ever ate.
S’mores, to me, are too sweet, a bad combination of flavors and much too messy. They seem to need something to be finished, but I don’t know what that might be. I’ve never had one where the chocolate melted, and everything just squishes out from the crackers. You get marshmallow stuck to your hands, and it’s too sticky to just wipe off.
I like a dessert that doesn’t get me out of my chair to go shower afterward. If I have to get sticky, it’s just a nice, blackened marshmallow on a sharp stick for me, thanks, and one will do it. Keep the crackers and the chocolate.
If you want to be really fancy with your s’mores or any other dessert with marshmallows, you can actually make fresh and delicious marshmallow fluff in your own kitchen, and you likely have everything needed on hand.
This won’t create neat, little marshmallows, but the fluff has many possible uses in addition to s’mores. You can pair this with bananas and chocolate, spread it on cupcakes, or use it as a dip for melon, strawberries and grapes.
A small butane torch is a very handy thing to have in the kitchen, and you can use it to toast the fluff if desired. Just like with making butter, you can make this by hand with a lot of persistence and elbow grease, but a good mixer will give you a nice finished product with less cursing.
This recipe is about timing. Mix the egg whites and cream of tarter together but then allow them a couple of minutes to get cozy before continuing. While that is happening, you can get the sugar mixture started. By the time that’s going on the burner, you can start whipping the egg whites. Be careful about the temperature of the sugar and use caution as you’re transferring it to the mixing bowl — melted sugar can cause a bad burn.
You can easily buy marshmallow fluff in a jar, but as with most things, making it yourself yields a delicious product without the addition of any preservatives.
MARSHMALLOW FLUFF
3 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Karo corn syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla
First, put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a wire whip and add the cream of tartar. Stir them a bit and allow to sit while you move on to the next step.
In a saucepan, heat the sugar, water and Karo syrup to 240 F. While this mixture heats, start beating the egg whites at high speed until semi-stiff peaks form. Stop the mixer until the sugar mixture comes to temperature. At 240 F, start beating the egg mixture again while pouring the hot liquid carefully down the side of the bowl. The eggs will deflate but will recover. Continue beating for 7 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat 1 minute more.
The resulting marshmallow fluff will keep in the refrigerator in a sealed container for about 12 days, when it will begin to separate.