Gâteau S'mores

S'mores is one of my favorite treats since little, fun, tasty and playful! Me and my best friend were thinking its so so cold this January, some S'mores will definitely help to warm us up, plus a cup of hot chocolate will even make us feel better :)  Of course I would like to have more fun in making S'mores.... so instead of small S'mores, how about a Gâteau S'mores? Sounds like an amazing idea to me, as usual it will be a little bit different from a small S'mores sandwich.  Luckily I have all the ingredients I need to make this fun and tasty cake..... let me grab them right now!

you need

• graham cracker crumbs 
• unsalted butter (melteded)
• vanilla paste and pinch of salt
• dark chocolate ganache ( I use 72% Valrhona Araguani or you can use any chocolate you prefer)  
• Swiss meringue

Lets start to make this lovely cake, steps are quite simple. Preheat your oven to 325 F, combine graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, vanilla paste and salt.  Press mixture down on a spring-form pan and baked your crust about 15 mins.  My crust has a nice golden brown color, let it rest until completely cool and I am going to get a cup of tea now! 

Next step is fun, chocolate time.  First thing to do is to line your pan with an acetate ring, let it sits firmly on top of your crust and pan. Have your freshly made chocolate ganache handy, pour it carefully on top, you may need to shake it a bit to get rid of any bubbles.  Let it sit in fridge for a few hours until it completely set, I let mine sit overnite :)

Now we're not too far away from finishing line!  Gently separate spring-form pan and acetate sheet and sit it nicely on your serving plate. See.... my cake looks lovely, you may notice my crust is THICK, just because I love lots of graham crackers crumbs, of course you can use less to make a thin crust.

Now the fun part starts.... have your Swiss meringue ready in your piping bag.... I use a small star tip and pipe little pretty stars on the cake... it looks beautiful and I keep piping.. piping.. piping and piping (your hand may hurt!).  More and more starts now and stars are getting higher and higher and eventually become.....

Yes, that's it.... a mountain!  Snow white and pretty, and that should be enough to go with rest of my cake.  I baked my remaining meringue to little meringue rings... good for snack or with tea :)  Final part.... blow-torch time!! Just torch your meringue to any color you like...of course no burning! Sometimes I feel is kind of dangerous too to let a girl plays fire in kitchen  :)

Ta-da! Wow, finally finished my Gâteau S'mores....looks so pretty! Toasted meringue, amazing ganache and lots of graham cracker crumbs... hmm a perfect treat in this cold cold January, let me go make hot chocolate now!

Enjoy!