S'mall S'mores

This week I had a fun challenge.  We hosted a Tuaca launch reception at the hotel, and the night before the event I got an email asking if I could do a dessert for it.  Since Tuaca is a vanilla and orange liqueur it needed to feature those flavors and oh, by the way, could I do a s'more dessert to complement the s'more cocktail that had already been designed?

No problem!  I started conceptualizing the dessert by breaking down the components.  S'mores are simple - graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallow.  I decided to use the graham cracker sable recipe from Johnny Iuzzini's Dessert Fourplay which I knew would produce a nice thin cracker suitable for a mini dessert.  Now for the chocolate.  When I was a kid one of my favorite treats was my mom's homemade chocolate frosting on graham crackers.  I wanted to recreate that lovely childhood memory by using my favorite dark chocolate fudge icing to fill the s'more.  Mmmmmm ... bittersweet chocolate with a healthy dose of vanilla - adding some Tuaca to it was a no-brainer.  So far, so good.

Of course I needed a marshmallow component, but since we had already made conventional marshmallows to garnish the s'more cocktail I didn't want to repeat them in the dessert.  So I went with Italian meringue ... just like marshmallow, but without the gelatin.  Fast and easy to make, pipeable, toastable.  Perfect!

I had my plan - now I just had to execute it.  The first thing I did when I got in the next morning was make the graham cracker dough so it would have time to chill before I rolled it out.  Then I made the chocolate fudge icing, adding Tuaca to taste, and let it set up at room temperature so it maintained a glossy sheen.  When the graham dough was cold enough I rolled it very thin and baked it.  As soon as it came out of the oven I flipped it out onto a cutting board and used a small cutter to cut squares about 1.25" x 1.25".  Then I cut each square in half to make two rectangles.  While the mini crackers cooled I made a batch of Italian meringue.

To assemble the s'mores I piped the silky, shiny dark chocolate fudge icing on half of the crackers.  Each cracker then got a little pinch of diced candied orange (which we always have in the pastry fridge) to make them a little extra special and kick up the orange flavor notes.  Then I squiggled Italian meringue onto the remaining crackers and lightly browned them with our propane torch.  I pressed the little sandwiches together and voila!  Tuaca S'mores.

Fast and easy to make, these little two-bite treats are winners all the way around.  The icing and meringue can be flavored in a million different ways.  Once assembled they hold well at room temperature and have great eye appeal.  They're just so darn cute!  I like these S'mall S'mores so much they're now the latest addition to the petite dessert displays we do for banquets.  And every single time I make them I'll think of (and thank) my mom.