S'more Tarts - A Grown Up Treat

I love s'mores! Who doesn't, right? But sadly, we don't have access to a roaring campfire all that often. These individual tarts are a great way to bring back the s'more feeling when you can't make it outside (and bonus you can avoid all the smoke and ash of a real camp out).

This sour cream ganache has a tart/sharp flavour to it and is very rich! I think you could serve two people with one individual tart, if desired.

Makes 4, four inch tarts.

Crust

1-1/4 c graham crackers

1/4 c coconut

1/2 c unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

1. Combine all three ingredients in a mixing bowl. 
2. Remove two tablespoons of crumb mixture and set aside.
3. Press into 4 mini tart pans (10cm/4 inches each) - as compactly as possible.
4. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Ganache

1 cup full fat sour cream at room temperature

210 grams dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

Instructions

1. Melt chocolate in double broiler.
2. Take off heat and stir in sour cream until smooth.

Instructions - final steps

1. Spoon ganache into graham tarts and smooth.
2. Place mini marshmallows over ganache to cover tarts.
3. Set oven to broil with rack about 4 inches from burner.
4. Place all tarts on a rimmed baking pan and place under broiler. 
5. Carefully watch until marshmallows are golden brown. You may have to remove individual tarts if you find some browning faster than others.
6. If desired, drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with left over crumbs.
7. Can be left covered at room temperature for up to 6 hours.

Too many marshmallows? Never!

Decadence at its best!

Harry Potter Birthday Party Part 5: The Cake

If you missed our other Harry Potter Birthday Party post, check them out:

• Harry Potter Birthday Party Invitations
• Harry Potter Birthday Party Decorations
• Harry Potter Birthday Party Games and Activities
• Harry Potter Birthday Party - Great Hall and Honeydukes

Such a simple cake but the kids loved it!

It's a simple five layered chocolate and vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.

It's covered with marshmallow fondant. Let me be clear, I dislike regular fondant and try to avoid it like the plague! It tastes awful. When I use it, I make figurines (e.g. on our Plants vs Zombie cake) but would never cover a cake in it. But I had heard rumours that marshmallow fondant is not only easy to work with but also tastes waaaay better. So what the heck, I thought, let's try it.

It doesn't taste like marshmallows but it is sweet and pleasant tasting. More importantly all the kids (and my husband) ate it and liked it - not one peeled it off the cake! That says something!

It was easy to work with. Even though I rolled it a bit too thin, it still adhered to the cake well and it was easy to smooth out.  The ribbons on the bottom of the cake hid a bit of messiness around the edges of the cake!

After it was covered, I added a bit of color gels to pieces of extra fondant. After rolling them out and cutting them into shapes (you can use whatever cookie cutters you have on hand or even cut them free style with a knife), I wrote on them with edible ink. The kids gave me their favorite spells and quotes from the Harry Potter books and movies and I just copied them onto individual fondant pieces. If you rub a tiny bit of water on the cake or the back of the fondant piece it will be easy to adhere it to the cake!

Note: Make sure you make the fondant a day or so in advance - it makes it much easier to work with.

Here are the sites I referred to when making our marshmallow fondant:

Recipe: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

Recipe: http://www.craftsy.com/recipe/marshmallow-fondant

Great Video by My Cupcake Addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaKqSND8sPc

S'more Snacks Recipe

My son's snack mix was such a hit in our house my 10 yr old daughter decided to get in on the act too. Her's is more of a treat than a healthy snack but the cereal is low in sugar, fat and salt so that makes me feel a little better about it!

She chose a classic s'more mix - chocolate, mini marshmallows and Shreddie(tm) cereal. She threw in some sweetened dried cranberries too.

Ingredients

6 cups cereal - we used Shreddies
2 cups (1 bag) mini Hershey Kisses
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Instructions

Mix everything in a large bowl.
Divide into snack bags - 1/2 c of mix in each bag.
Servings: about 12.