S’mores: Gourmet Treats For Every Occasion

Who doesn’t enjoy a freshly made s’more, with toasty, caramelized marshmallow melting into milk chocolate and delivered in between two crisp graham crackers? I know that I do, and I like the combination enough to experiment a bit with different variations on the theme, too. S’mores: Gourmet Treats For Every Occasion is a cookbook dedicated to the s’more and to creating tasty variations on it.

The book is based on the premise that the heart of the s’more is the toasted marshmallow in the center, rather than the chocolate or the graham cracker components, so all the recipes use toasted marshmallow. Building out from that marshmallow, the recipes vary the flavor and amount of chocolate used, as well as the “container” (the two pieces of cookie or fruit on either side of the filling that hold the s’more together). Some of the variations are simple, substituting chocolate chip or sugar cookies for the grahams, while others add caramel sauce or rely on flavored chocolate candies to make things more interesting. Just about all of the recipes make you think “why didn’t I think of that!”

The best thing about the book is that it is packed with beautiful photos of the s’more recipes it includes. I have a hard time getting my marshmallows not to burn when I toast them over an open flame, so it’s doubly impressive that they were able to make the marshmallows look so perfectly cooked. Even if you don’t end up trying the recipes straight from the book, the photos serve as an excellent source of inspiration and, after reading through, you’re sure to want to experiment a bit the next time you have some marshmallows and a heat source – fire, stove, bbq, etc. – available.