S’mores Tarts

With Independence Day around the corner, I’ve been contemplating dessert ideas that embody an American theme. S’mores, which were first documented in a 1927 Girl Scouts guidebook, immediately came to mind, and I started envisioning them as individual tarts.  The challenge lied in creating free-standing individual tarts with the same flavor profile as the campfire classic, which can be served at room temperature for a summer gathering.

To begin, I broke the process into steps:

Step 1 focused on the graham cracker component, which turned out to be the most challenging. Initially, I thought of using a graham cracker crust recipe to form shells in my non-stick 3-inch wide tartlet molds, holdovers from my pastry shop days. The first two attempts failed as neither of the recipes held together when removed from the shells after baking.

The following day, during a trip to the store to purchase more graham cracker crumbs for another attempt, I came across packages of 3-inch wide Keebler graham cracker crusts, each formed in a foil container. Although I typically stay away from pre-made products, I thought this might be the answer to the graham cracker crust problem. I purchased one package, and followed the exact package directions on pre-baking. After cooling, I held each shell upside down by the foil container, gently tapped the bottom with index finger, and voila! I had perfectly intact, individual, free-standing shells. The graham cracker element was set.

Moving on to Step 2, I contemplated the chocolate component. I quickly decided upon chocolate ganache, but the question was the ratio of chocolate to cream. My standard ganache recipe calls for equal amounts of 64% chocolate and heavy cream. However, since these tarts will be served in warm weather, I needed to increase the chocolate slightly in proportion to the cream. After conducting two small batch tests, I discovered that 4.5 oz of chocolate to 4 oz of heavy cream (12.5% more chocolate than cream) worked beautifully.

Step 3 involved the marshmallow component, which turned out to be the easiest. Italian Meringue, piped over the chilled chocolate, and then browned off with kitchen propane torch, served as a perfect substitute for the S’mores marshmallow. This is yet another reason to add a kitchen torch to your batterie de cuisine.

The resulting S’mores Tarts are such a taste treat! The graham cracker crust provides a satisfying crunch, and the bittersweet ganache complements the sweet, slightly caramelized taste of the Italian Meringue.

The recipe below can easily be scaled up (increased) for your July 4^th or other large party. Remember to remove the tarts from the refrigerator at least one hour before serving for the ganache to soften.

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