This delicious concoction of graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows was an idea that unfolded by the campfire in 1927 by a lady named Loretta Scott Crew who decided to make them for her Girl Scout troop. Little did she know that she was starting a passionate love affair with this gooey concoction that would snowball into eternity.
There is no historical documentation of the S’more (short for some more) prior to Loretta sharing it with her troop, but many s’mores recipes provided by the Girl Scouts did appear in various publications after that date. This treat is not only popular in the USA but also popular in Canada, and since August 10th is National S’mores Day, I had to include a mid summer frozen dessert idea to celebrate this delicious treat.
Here was my thinking on how this dessert was going to come together…
How about a thick layer of rich vanilla semifreddo poured into a prebaked graham cracker pie crust, drizzled with a rich chocolate ganache and then topped with a mound of Italian meringue…this particular meringue tastes just like marshmallow which I would flame it to give it that campfire taste.
How can you even go wrong?
Based on the amount of time you have, you can make your own ice cream or semifreddo or even purchase a good quality ice cream at the store if you are in a pinch. The only thing you will have to do is bake the pie crust and then make the meringue. It’s a great little dessert to make and share and will guarantee lots of smiles along with oooh’s, ahhhh’s and yuuuuums!
S’mores Semifreddo Ice Cream Treat
1 recipe Vanilla Semifreddo (don’t add the toffee pieces or cognac and sub some maple extract for vanilla)
1 graham cracker pie crust (2 packs of graham crackers plus 1 stick butter)
½ recipe of quick ganache
1 recipe Italian Meringue
First melt the butter in the microwave and process the graham crackers until they are coarse crumbs. Add the melted butter and combine well with the crumbs then pour this into a 10” cake rim. Mine was also about 1½” high. If you need to add a little more butter to hold the crumbs together then do so, because it is important that the integrity of the crust stays together and does not crumble. When you squeeze some crust together it should stay in a ball like this….then you know you have added enough butter.
Using a glass or a lid like I did, press the crust down firmly to pack it and do the same for the sides. Make sure that the crust is on the thin side but sturdy enough to retain its shape. Bake this for about 10 minutes at 350°F and then place the crust in the freezer.
Next make the quick ganache and set aside. When the crust has chilled a little, drizzle some of the ganache into the base of the crust and then place the crust in the freezer again.
While the crust remains in the freezer, make the vanilla semifreddo and when it’s ready pour it into the chilled graham pie crust. Then add more chocolate ganache drizzle over the semifreddo ice cream and freeze for at least 2 hours.
About an hour before you plan to serve the dessert, move the dessert onto your serving platter. It should be quite firm b now and easy to move. Remove the rim and keep frozen until you make the Italian meringue. Once the meringue is ready, either pipe it out from a pastry bag or simply mound it on top of the ice cream pie. Using a small propane torch, flame the entire surface of the meringue and refreeze this until you are ready to serve.
Use a hot knife to slice generous wedges and enjoy!
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