Frozen s'mores takes the classic s'more and turns it into a favorite summer treat. The recipe is from Dominique Ansel's The Secret Recipes cookbook. An ice cream center is covered in a flaky chocolate crust and then encased in a marshmallow shell that is torched. A campfire treat perfectly adapted to beat the summer heat.
Ice cream on a hot summer's day brings back memories of churning a tub of cream on the back porch. How many of you have turned the crank on a manual ice cream maker over and over again, until your arm feels like it's going to fall off? Turning and churning, sweat beading up on your forehead, waiting for the cream to freeze. Finally, when you can no longer turn the crank, the ice cream is ready. Then scooping up the soft, rich, cold goodness into a cup and eating it fast, before it melts, but not so fast that you get brain freeze. It's a delicate balancing act that I never quite mastered.
I no longer have a manual ice cream maker, so I cheated on the process and bought Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream at the local market. First, put a silpat mat in a baking sheet and place it in the freezer to cool. The ice cream was set out on the counter to soften, then placed on the cooled tray and shaped into a 8 X 10 X 3/4 inch rectangle, covered with plastic wrap, and put back in the freezer for four hours to harden.
The recipe calls for using rectangular molds to shape the s'mores, however, I used 3" round molds, because that's what I have in my kitchen. To cut shapes to fit inside the molds, I used a 2" biscuit cutter. The ice cream was then placed on a cold silpat mat lined baking sheet, covered with plastic wrap, and put back in the freezer.
Now to the really good stuff, the chocolate feuilletine. Paillete Feuilletine are thin crispy flakes of buttery crepes. The flakes are coated in melted dark chocolate and are so hard to resist. I taste tested them and was tempted to eat the whole batch but was able to restrain myself, barely. Begin by slowly melting dark chocolate, I used 64% Valrhona Manjari. Add a pinch of Kosher salt. Then sprinkle the feuilletine over the chocolate and stir to coat the flakes. Spread on a silpat lined baking sheet cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to set. Once set, break up any large pieces and place back in the refrigerator until needed.
The next day remove the ice cream rounds from the freezer and coat with the chocolate feuilletine. To get it to stick, I had to gently press the feuilletine into the ice cream, which caused the ice cream to soften and start melting, so work fast. Cover with plastic wrap and place back into the freezer.
The marshmallow shell is next. Place your molds on a silpat lined baking sheet and lightly grease with nonstick spray. Sprinkle powdered gelatin over water and let it sit for 20 minutes to bloom. Combine sugar, corn syrup, honey, and water in a medium pot and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook without stirring until it reaches 250 degrees F. Pour the syrup into a stand mixer and whip on medium high, until it holds medium stiff peaks, about 4 to 6 minutes. Place two large scoops in a piping bag and cut an opening about 1 inch across the tip of the bag. Fill each mold three quarters full. Push the ice cream round into the center of the marshmallow in each mold. The marshmallow will push up over the edge of the ice cream. Top-off the molds with marshmallow, and using an off set spatula, scrap off excess marshmallow.
Let them sit for a minute and lift off the mold while holding the marshmallow down with your fingers. Freeze until set, about two hours.
The recipe says to work quickly, which I thought I was doing, but you have to work VERY quickly. I had not worked with marshmallow before and I did not appreciate just how quickly it would set. I was struggling to get the ice cream pushed down into the marshmallow, and when it came time to top-off the molds, the marshmallow was too stiff. Also, I let them sit in the molds too long, maybe three to four minutes, and had to use a paring knife along the edge to lift the mold off of the s'mores. I would recommend filling half of the molds, then warming the piping bag in a microwave for five to ten seconds, and then filling the rest.
To serve, place a stick in the s'more and torch.
You are rewarded with the best campfire treat you've ever put in your mouth! Crunch of the toasted marshmallow outside, then creamy melted marshmallow layered over the chocolate feuilletine covered ice cream, one flavor explosion after another. Melt in your mouth goodness!
