Raspberry and Hazelnut S’more Dessert

By Emma Hawkins | September 24, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

A s’more is one of the best campfire snacks there is. Two graham crackers sandwiching a thick marshmallow and a block of chocolate, all put over an open flame to melt it into a messy squidgy tasty thing. However, the main problem with s’mores is that they rarely make an appearance outside the mid-summer eve campfire.

On my travels this summer, as you’ll probably all know by now, I spent some time in North America. This is the hometown of the s’more, and pretty much every supermarket I went into had giant marshmallows and graham crackers everywhere, just asking to be made into these treats. This sparked my imagination to try to transform this snack into a fully-fledged dessert.

So that’s what I’ve done. I’ve taken the main components of biscuit, marshmallow and chocolate and have played around with them to make this. I’ve added in the two new flavours of raspberry and hazelnut as I think they bring something new that works with this. They also helpfully cut through the pure sweetness which you inevitably get once you’ve up-sized this snack. So in the end we have a nutty biscuit base – a bit like a cheese cake, a chocolate and brown butter ganache, and a raspberry marshmallow to top it all off.

Whilst I usually write my own recipes I should point out that the chocolate and brown butter ganache I haven’t changed at all from the original source. I found this recipe on the Great British Chefs website, and after I’d made it I found that it tasted so good I didn’t want to mess around with it. Originally the ganache was part of a much larger recipe (the link to which is at the bottom of this post), but I’ve taken it out of that recipe and have slotted it into this one, where I think it fits really well. The ganache also tastes really good on it’s own, so if you have any mixture left over after making this, put it into small pots and you can have it as an after-dinner snack!

This does take a long time to make, and it is fairly complicated, but the finished result is well worth the effort. Just make sure you have a crazy amount of time to carry it out so you don’t get stressed, and be patient.

It’s also worth mentioning before you start that you’ll also need some specialist equipment to make and present this. You’ll need 4 metal food presentation rings, a blowtorch, an electric or stand-alone whisk, and an electric food thermometer. You could probably work around this if you don’t have any of the above (the rings and blow torch in particular), but unless you have a really strong arm and an intuitive sense of what temperature sugar is boiling at, you’re going to need a thermometer and electric whisk. Anyway, aside from that there’s no reason why you can’t make this, so on to the recipe…

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 2 1/2 hours, plus lots of time to set the layers

Ingredients

For the hazelnut biscuit base

50g Chopped hazelnuts
150g Biscuits
70g Butter

For the chocolate and brown butter ganache

200g Salted butter
200g Dark chocolate, melted
200g Milk chocolate, melted
375g Double cream
50g Glucose
3 Egg yolks
4g Cocoa powder

To decorate

100g Dark chocolate
50g White chocolate

For the raspberry marshmallow

225g Granulated sugar
½ tbsp Liquid glucose
2 Gelatine sheets
1 Egg white
½ tsp Vanilla bean paste
63g Raspberries, crushed

For the raspberry coulis

125g Raspberries
20g caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

Begin by making the biscuit base. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Put the hazelnuts into a tin and roast in the oven for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Crush the biscuits in a large bowl with the back of a rolling pin until they become crumbs. Melt the butter in a pan and then add to the biscuits. Add the nuts and then mix until fully combined.
Take 4, 6x7cm presentation rings and place on a lined baking tray. Spoon the biscuit mixture into the bottom of the rings and smooth out with the back of a spoon so it’s an even thickness. Leave in the fridge for half an hour to set.
Next make the chocolate and brown butter ganache. Melt the butter in a pan for around 8 minutes. You want it to turn a rich nutty brown but not to burn. Allow to cool slightly then pass through a sieve. Don’t use a plastic sieve as it’ll melt (I’ve found this out from past experience). Leave to cool completely.
Put 125g of the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the glucose and allow to dissolve before removing from the heat.
Melt the chocolates in a heatproof bowl. Then pour the cream onto them and mix until smooth. Set aside for later.
In another bowl whisk the egg yolks until pale and creamy. Add the cocoa powder and whisk again until combined. Slowly drizzle the brown butter into the egg yolks, whisking continuously as you do so, as though you were making a mayonnaise.
Fold the nutty egg mixture into the chocolate mix. Whip the remaining double cream until soft peaks start to form. Fold this into the main chocolate mix.
Take the biscuit bases out of the fridge and pour the brown butter ganache on top. Leave enough space in the top of the moulds to top with marshmallow (so only fill around 2/3 full).
Chill the cylinders in the fridge for at least two hours to set.
Meanwhile make the chocolate decorations. Gently melt the white and dark chocolates in separate heatproof bowls over pans of simmering water. Line two baking trays with acetate. Drizzle the white chocolate over the acetate to create a scribble pattern. Leave to set at room temperature, meanwhile keep the dark chocolate melted but not hot.
Once the white chocolate has set pour the dark chocolate over the top and smooth out with a palette knife. Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Then take a large cookie cutter and cut out rounds out of the chocolate sheet. Take a smaller cutter and cut out smaller circles within the larger ones to create discs. Leave to cool completely until set and then use the cutters again to fully cut out the shapes. Leave somewhere cool until plating.
Once the ganache is completely set you can start to make the marshmallow. Begin by soaking the gelatine sheets in a bowl of water.
Put the sugar, glucose and 100ml water into a saucepan and boil. Heat the sugar until it reaches 127˚C. Remove the gelatine from the water and squeeze to remove excess water. Add to the sugar syrup to dissolve the sheets. Pour the mixture into a jug and set aside for later.
Put the egg white into a very clean bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until firm peaks form (if you have a mixer this is a good time to use it as the next step can take a while). Continue to whisk the egg whites and pour the sugar syrup onto them to make an Italian meringue. Add the vanilla and whisk until the mixture is thick, shiny and has cooled down, this should take around 10 minutes.
Take the raspberries and crush them slightly. Fold them into the marshmallow mixture and then spoon the mixture on top of the ganache in the moulds. Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or until completely set.
To make the raspberry coulis mix the sugar and lemon juice with the raspberries in a pan. Heat gently until the raspberries are mushy and the sugar is dissolved. Press the mixture through a sieve and discard the seeds. Put the coulis into a small jug to serve.
Now it’s time to plate! Use a palette knife to loosen the s’mores from the baking tray. Lift the moulds onto the plate using the palette knife. Use a blowtorch to lightly heat the sides of the moulds to loosen them from the mixtures inside. Remove the moulds to reveal the stacks of s’mores. Blowtorch the top of the marshmallow to lightly caramelise it. Carefully remove a chocolate disc from the acetate with a palette knife and lean against the side of the s’more stack. Serve with fresh raspberries and the raspberry coulis.