The S’more Bar: Vanilla Ganache, Marshmallow, and Graham Cracker enrobed in Dark Chocolate and topped with Caramel Sugar.

Raft-style no more for the S’more Bar. Instead, I’ve decided to go for for another variation on the s’more look: square. I’m favoring a 2 inch square for this.

Taste-wise, I didn’t want to stray too much from the traditional flavors found in s’mores for this version, but I also wanted it to actually have flavor — beyond sugar and chocolate. So, I amped up its vanilla and caramel notes. The ganache is infused with vanilla bean, and the caramel top echoes the toasted crust of campfire s’mores while deepening the overall flavor of the bar. I’ve always liked how the graham cracker rounds out the flavors and textures of s’mores, and it does so here, too.

Cut in half, it looks roughly like this:

I say “roughly” because the lines need to be cleaner, but to some extent, that comes with using more professional equipment than I have at the moment, such as an enrober to coat with chocolate and a guitar to cut. This is was my only attempt at this exact style, though. I actually cut up most of the rest of my s’mores much smaller than this and experimented with different toppings as trials for different styles, and to use to track spoilage.

I will work on this a little bit more. I recently changed the type of cream that I’m using, and the ganache turned out softer than usual. The ganache needs to be a little firmer than the marshmallow– the contrasting textures of the bar is just as important to me as the taste. I also want to have a slightly thinner layer of ganache. And I want to make the top sprinkles a little more uniform.

But I am happy with my graham cracker recipe, which I’ve tweaked a bit to have less butter and slightly more salt. I also like my marshmallow recipe, which I devised by amalgamating ideas from different recipes and experiences. It has just the softness that I like to suggest a just-toasted marshmallow without actually being runny, and it’s free of Karo corn syrup, which contains high-fructose corn syrup.

Also, once I perfect this standard s’more version, I think that variations could work, too. One person on the candy bar survey suggested maple s’mores, which I think is a wonderful idea; and all of the components have the potential to be flavored by maple syrup or sugar. I’d also be up for a s’more with a ginger cookie as a base.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 2nd, 2007 at 12:48 am and is filed under Candy Bars, Chocolate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.