This is NOT a Peanut Butter Cup

Well, we all know I LOVE peanut butter, but this post is not about peanut butter and that chocolate thing above is NOT a peanut butter cup.  Something else I love are s'mores, and by now we're all pretty familiar with s'mores.  After all, I've already done 2 posts on them - once here and another here.  Yeah, they're pretty tasty, but their time is coming to an end - well until next summer anyway. So because the days are getting cooler and the rain clouds are moving in, I've come up with the perfect s'more solution so you don't have to freeze your ass off roasting marshmallows in the cold!   

 

With these S'more Cups there's no need to worry about burning your fingers on hot and gooey marshmallows.  And best of all, they won't stick to anything because they're entirely encased in chocolate!  They're perfect to include in kids school lunches - or your work lunches for that matter! 

To make these s'more cups you'll only need 3 things: Wilton Candy Melts, Marshmallow Fluff and some homemade graham cracker rounds. I came up with this idea while I was making the homemade graham crackers for my s'more pops.  But unlike a regular s'more, these stay nice and gooey because they use Marshmallow Fluff instead of regular marshmallows which can go kind of hard and chewy once its been melted. 

Marshmallow Fluff can be a bit hard to find in the UK, but if you know where to look you should be able to get it without too much effort.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Marshmallow Fluff, it's a spreadable fluffy marshmallow spread - exactly how it's name describes it!  I buy my Marshmallow Fluff at TK Maxx (AKA: TJ Maxx/Marshal's in the US or Winners in Canada), but I've also seen it at local farm shops and the Food Halls in Selfrdiges, John Lewis, etc. Visit my international food locator for more info on where to buy American food products.

In addition to the original Marshmallow Fluff, TX Maxx stocks the Strawberry Fluff as well, so if you're one of those people who prefers strawberry over chocolate you can always make some strawberry shortcake s'more cups instead.  

S'more Cups 

Graham Cracker Rounds (recipe here)
Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts
Marshmallow Fluff 

1. You'll need to make a batch of homemade graham crackers using the same recipe I used for my s'more pops. You'll also need 2 circle cutters - 1 slightly smaller than the other. The smaller circle cutter should fit into the bottom of the silicone baking cup, and the larger cutter should fit into the top third of the silicone cup.  Once the graham cracker dough has chilled overnight, use your circle cutters to cut out equal numbers of smaller and larger circles, and bake according to the recipe's instructions. 

2.  Once the graham cracker rounds are out of the oven and cooled, paint the inside of each silicone baking cup with a thick layer of melted candy melts. (I only coated my cups about 3/4 up the side as I didn't want them to be too thick). Use enough so that you can't see any light through the candy melts when you hold the silicone baking cup up to the light. I used a silicone pastry brush, but a regular (new) paint brush or even a tea spoon would work just fine. While the candy melts are still wet, drop one of the smaller graham cracker rounds into the bottom of the chocolate coated baking cup, and put them in the fridge to set. 

3. Once the candy melts have hardened and set, spoon some marshmallow fluff into the cup so it almost reaches the top of the chocolate.  Next you'll need to put one of the larger graham cracker rounds on top of the fluff.  Finally spoon some more chocolate melts on top of the last graham cracker to seal the cup. Try and make sure that that the final later of chocolate meets the top edge of the chocolate cup, and is the same level as the edge of the chocolate cup. When this is done, put the silicone cups in the fridge to harden up.   

4. Once the chocolate cups are hardened and set, pop them out of the silicone cases and you're done!  

A mouth full of amazingness....er I mean mess

Eton Mess is a very popular and traditional UK dessert that is so simple to make - perfect for summer.  I don't know what took me so long to try this dessert, but I'm glad I finally did.  I went out for lunch with some work colleagues and we shared this dessert and I fell in love immediately.  It's like eating a mouth full of little clouds!  All you need are 3 main ingredients:  whipped cream, strawberries and meringue cookies.  Eton Mess gets it's name from the historic Eton College - one of the UK's top schools for boys aged 13-18.  Princes William and Harry went to Eton, as well as the UK's current Prime Minister and 19 former PM's.  Rumor has it that Eton Mess was first created in the 1930's and is still served today, particularly at their annual June cricket match against Winchester College. 

Start out with some fresh strawberries.  Wash and slice the berries before sprinkling with sugar. 

You'll need some meringue nests/cookies.  I was going to make my own, but decided I didn't want to wait 3 hours for the meringues to cook in the oven.  Instead, I bought some pre-made ones which was probably a much more sensible option given it was such a beautiful day.

Whip up some fresh cream, and then crush up several of the meringue cookies and fold them into the whipped cream along with the strawberries.  That's it!  You're pretty much done!  Spoon the whipped cream mixture into a glass or bowl and top off with a few remaining strawberries and the juice from the berries.  Enjoy!


Eton Mess

This desert is so simple to make you really don't need a recipe, but as a general guideline you can follow the one I concocted below - this is how I made mine.

20 fresh strawberries + a few to garnish
2-3 tbs sugar

 
250ml (1 cup) fresh whipping cream
4-5 tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp strawberry flavoring

5-6 meringue nests - If you can't find pre-made meringue nests you can make your own using this recipe

1) Wash and chop the strawberries.  Set aside a few to use as a garnish at the end.  Put the remaining strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar.  Set them aside for 15-30 mins to allow a nice syrup to form.

2) Pour the cream into a bowl, add the sugar and vanilla, and whip until it's nice and fluffy.  Take 1/3 of the cream and put into a separate bowl, and fold in either:
    a) 1/2 tsp of strawberry flavouring (mine was pink, so it added a nice pink tint to the cream as well)
    b) some of the strawberry syrup that has formed in the strawberry bowl
    c) a hand full of the strawberries that have been pureed.

3) Crush up the meringue nests.  Make sure not to crush them too fine.  It's good to have some larger chunks for texture, as well as some smaller ones.

4) Gently fold 2/3 of the strawberries and 2/3 of the crushed meringues into the plain whipped cream mixture.  Fold the remaining strawberries and meringues into the strawberry whipped cream mixture.

5) Spoon some of the white cream mixture into a serving dish so it fills up 1/3 of the dish.  Spoon the pink cream mixture on top so it forms a 2nd layer, and finally top off with a remaining layer of white mixture before garnishing with the fresh chopped strawberries you set aside earlier.  *You can also drizzle a bit of strawberry syrup or puree on top as well.

Note:  Serve this dessert immediately so the meringues stay nice and crunchy.  If you leave it too long the meringues will start to soften and you won't even notice they're in there!