Today Alex was tweeting about using rice krispie treats to make s'mores, probably because we have a lot of them in the house right now. I rarely make them because I am unable to stop eating them when I do and the holidays are the perfect excuse to indulge myself. I actually made two batches this year, a semi-healthy one with puffed brown rice, puffed kamut and freeze dried organic strawberries and a classic recipe. They were both tasty. I have to say that freeze dried fruit is always a good thing in either version because the sweet acidity and chewy texture enhances the overall experience, but the "healthy recipe" took a little getting used to. It was softer and less crispy than the original although it had the bonus of being more flavorful.
Anyway, after tweeting his idea for s'mores he and Amaya were headed to the playground. Before they left he casually asked me to make them and take some photos for the website, you know, toasting the krispie treats and then melting some chocolate over them so they would be all warm and gooey-delicious looking. After they left I tried to figure out how to do this without making a huge mess all over myself and the kitchen. Fortunately the idea of paninis came to me almost immediately.
I quickly cut out squares of the plain rice krispie treats and made them into sandwiches with feves of Valrhona Caraibe chocolate. Then I put them in the panini press. As the marshmallow heated and the sugar caramelized, the weight of the press slowly pushed the outer layers together, enclosing the melting chocolate. They emerged as thin, burnished beauties, still a little soft as I slid them onto a plate, they quickly develped a crackling crust as they cooled. When I bit into one, that crunchy outer layer quickly gave way to a slightly chewy marshmallow krispie, which then yielded to the creamy, slightly bitter chocolate melting across my tongue. It was better than any s'more I've ever had. We'll definitely be making more of these.
Years Past:
