Strawberry S’mores Tart

Post and images by guest blogger, Rebecca White, of A Pleasant Little Kitchen. 

Visit her full blog or find out more about her here. 

I live with three humans whose love language revolves around sweets... and even more specifically, chocolate. And it’s not just my immediate family that tends to feel loved when given a sweet treat, even my best friend is fueled by chocolate. I’ve come to accept this fate to shower favorites with chocolate love.

For my love-inspired Valentine’s Day recipe I went with a dessert that my favorite people would appreciate.

One particular sweetie I’ve always wanted to make at home is marshmallow fluff. It does seem a bit intimidating, but after a bit of research I realize that marshmallow fluff is in fact:

1. marshmallow crème.

2. easy to make.

In order to create marshmallow crème just a few ingredients and a little bit of boiling and whipping time is needed. Corn syrup, water, sugar, egg whites, and vanilla extract is all that’s needed to make a delectably gooey marshmallow fluff.

There are so few ingredients that I think it would be just an 8 minute pop in to Market Street to make this marshmallow crème dream come true. (OK if you bring the kids along it’ll probably be 15 minutes because there’s always a need to get a free cookie at the bakery and a free piece of fruit from the Kids Club produce stand in the produce department. Either way, you’re going to have a quick trip to a delightful grocery store.)

Once home add about 20 minutes of work time and homemade marshmallow crème “fluff” will be yours.

So why all this talk around marshmallow fluff? Well because it is the topper to a decadent Strawberry S’mores Tart that I plan to create for my loved ones on Valentine’s Day.

The tart contains a graham cracker crust (I opted for a store bought crust) that’s filled with homemade chocolate ganache. Once the chocolate is chilled and hardened, the tart is topped with a layer of strawberry jam and homemade marshmallow crème “fluff”. It is a delightful treat that is rich, decadent and perfect for celebrating those you love to love on Valentine’s Day….

…especially those dears who fill their love tank with chocolate.

Strawberry S’mores Tart

Serves 8

Ingredients

graham cracker pie crust

chocolate ganache filling (recipe below)

strawberry jam

marshmallow crème “fluff” (recipe below)

Directions

1. Fill a graham cracker pie crust with the warm chocolate ganache. Place in the fridge and chill until the filling is hardened, about 2 to 3 hours.

2. Remove the tart from the fridge. Spread a generous amount of strawberry jam on top of the chocolate ganache almost covering the entire top of the tart. Leave a little bit of space between the jam and the top edge of the crust.

3. Spread a generous amount of marshmallow fluff on top of the jam. Serve chilled.

for the chocolate ganache filling

Ingredients

12 ounce unsweetened chocolate, broken into pieces

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/8ths

pinch of salt

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Place the chocolate, butter and salt into a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

2. Place the cream into a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Immediately remove the cream from the heat and strain into the mixing bowl over the chocolate.

3. Stir until the chocolate and butter has melted and is smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract. Use as directed in recipe. (For the s’mores tart pour the chocolate ganache into a graham cracker pie crust. Place into the fridge and chill until hardened, about 2-3 hours).

for the marshmallow crème “fluff”

Author note: This recipe requires a candy thermometer.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1/3 cup and 1 tablespoon water

4 egg whites

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar and corn syrup into a sauce pan. Stir to combine. Cook over high until it reaches 240 degrees (about 15 minutes). Do not stir while the corn syrup mixture is cooking.

2. Meanwhile, with an electric mixer on high whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large stainless steel bowl until stiff peak forms, about 3-4 minutes.

3. Add the vanilla extract to the egg whites.

4. Once the corn syrup mixture has reached 240 degrees, remove it from the heat. Lower the mixer speed to low and slowly pour the corn syrup mixture into the egg white peaks. Once the syrup has been poured into the egg whites, increase the speed to medium high and continue to whip until the marshmallow crème is fluffy, about 7 to 8 minutes.

5. Let the marshmallow crème “fluff” cool. Place in airtight containers and store in the fridge up to two weeks.