Recipe for fun in the summer sun - STARFISH S'MORES

When I did a Google search on S'mores, I was astonished at all of the ways you can use the basic combination of chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows.  I found s'mores pies, cakes, cupcakes, lollipops, bars, cake pops, cookies, caramel apples, truffles, ice cream, pizza, trifles, parfaits, breakfast pastries, pudding, fudge, whoopee pies, cereal treats, crepes, sundaes, cheesecakes, brownies, tarts, moon pies, and paninis.  I even found recipes to make s'mores in a jar - the newest craze. Fancy restaurants even make their own versions of s'mores using homemade graham crackers topped with chocolate ganache or mousse then topped with a beautiful piped meringue. 

I challenged myself to find a new and exciting way to make s'mores and am so happy with my results. Aren't they cute?

To make my little starfish s'mores, I whipped up a batch of homemade marshmallows, cut them out with a star shaped cookie cutter, dipped them in some melted chocolate, sprinkled on crushed graham crackers and added two silly little edible eyes. You don't have to be an expert candy dipper to make these, as the more lumpy and messy they are, the better they look. You could use a starfish cookie cutter to make your treats, but I thought the plain star cutter worked just fine, and I had one on hand.

You will have lots of extra scrap pieces of marshmallow once you cut out all of your stars. I saved some to eat and dipped some in chocolate. If you create a beach scene to display your starfish, you can use some of the chocolate dipped scraps as big rocks. I didn't mind having scraps, but if you need a lot of starfish and don't want any scraps, you can put your marshmallow in a large pastry bag and pipe out stars on a cornstarch/powdered sugar lined baking sheet. Just be sure to pipe a few layers of marshmallow, so your starfish are thick. I created my beach scene using brown sugar sprinkled with a bit of white sugar - a bit messy, but it looked great.

Starfish S'mores (makes 12-24 depending on the size - I made 12)

Use a food processor to make
graham cracker crumbs
or place crackers in a bag
 and whack with a rolling
pin or pan.


Ingredients:

1 cup water, divided

3 packages unflavored gelatin (2 1/2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

1-2 teaspoons butter or non-stick cooking spray

50 squares of graham crackers crushed into crumbs

16 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or chips)

Special Equipment Needed:

stand mixer or super heavy duty hand held mixer

small saucepan with lid

candy thermometer

9" x 13" pan

rubber spatula and/or an offset spatula

star cookie cutter (I used the 3" cutter)

dipping fork or kitchen fork
parchment paper or wax paper
baking sheet or cutting board
toothpick

Instructions:

Make marshmallows (recipe adapted from Alton Brown's Good Eats) OR use click on this link to see how to make this recipe using store bought marshmallows

Pour 1/2 cup of water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle gelatin over top of water and allow to soften for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, pour remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt into a small saucepan.  Stir just to combine ingredients. Cover saucepan, place over medium heat, and cook for 4 minutes.  Remove lid, and clip the candy thermometer onto the side of the pan.  Continue to cook, without stirring, until the mixture reaches 240 degrees Fahrenheit (about 7-8 minutes.) Be very careful not to touch or spill any of this hot syrup on your skin - it will burn badly!

Place the whisk attachment on your stand mixer. Turn the stand mixer onto low speed. Very carefully and slowly pour the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the softened gelatin. Once all of the sugar syrup is in the bowl, increase  the mixer speed to high. Whip until the marshmallow becomes very thick and cools to a lukewarm temperature, about 12-15 minutes. Add the vanilla and whip just to combine.

While the marshmallow is whipping, prepare your pan.  Butter (or spray with non-stick spray) the bottom and sides of a 9" x 13" pan.  Combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch in a bowl.  Sprinkle evenly over the bottom and sides of the pan. Tap pan to remove excess. Save remaining mixture for later.

Butter or spray a rubber spatula and use it to remove the marshmallow from the bowl. Spread the marshmallow evenly in the pan. Use a buttered offset spatula to smooth the surface.  

Dust the top of the marshmallow with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Cover bowl of powdered mixture for later use. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

Set a large cutting board on top of the pan of marshmallows.  Turn both the board and pan upside down.  The marshmallow should fall right out of the pan onto the board. If it doesn't, help it along.  Dust a star shaped cookie cutter with some of the powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture.  Press the cookie cutter into the marshmallow, remove, and press marshmallow out.  Dust cutter again, and continue to cut stars until you can't cut any more.  As you can see, you will have a lot of marshmallow scraps. Either dust them with more powdered sugar/cornstarch or dip them in any leftover chocolate (be sure to leave some chocolate to attach your candy eyes.)

Melt Chocolate:

Pour chopped chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.  Heat on high power for 30 seconds.  Stir. Heat on high power for 20 seconds. Stir vigorously.  Heat on high power for 15 seconds.  Stir vigorously.  If not melted, continue to heat for 10 second increments, stirring after each, until melted. For more detailed melting instructions, read my chocolate making tutorial. Just a note: you don't need to temper this chocolate because the graham crackers will completely coat the chocolate, therefore you can use good quality pure chocolate for this recipe.  You can, if you prefer, use confectionery coating/candy melts.

Pour graham cracker crumbs into a shallow dish.

Dip Marshmallow Stars into Chocolate and Graham Cracker Crumbs:

Place one marshmallow star in the melted chocolate.  Use a fork to press the marshmallow into the chocolate, covering the top and all sides of the star.  Place the fork on the underside of the marshmallow and use it to lift the marshmallow out of the chocolate.  Shake the marshmallow to allow any excess chocolate to fall off.  Flop the marshmallow over into the bowl of graham cracker crumbs.  Remove fork.  Sprinkle and push the crumbs over and up against the marshmallow star.  Completely cover the star with crumbs and allow to dry for 1-2 minutes in the crumbs. Remove from crumbs and set on a parchment paper lined baking sheet or cutting board.

I originally added some chocolate to the candy eyes and pressed them onto the starfish.  Most stayed in place, but a few fell off. So, although this method is pictured, I would suggest you do things as mentioned below.

Use a toothpick to dig out small circles of the graham cracker crumbs where the eyes will be on each starfish. Add a dab of chocolate to the holes and place an eye on top.  Once I did this, none of the eyes fell off.

Store your marshmallow starfish in an airtight container for up to 1 week.  Package individual starfish in cellophane bags to give as party favors or gifts.

How would you like to find these yummy starfish s'mores at the beach?

If you like this recipe, please share it with others by using the share buttons below. I really appreciate being Stumbled Upon, and am always grateful to those of you that share my ideas on your website. I do request that you don't post my entire tutorial, but rather share a picture with a link and be sure to mention the recipe came from Hungry Happenings. If you make this recipe, I'd love for you to send me a photo to beth@hungryhappenings.com. Thank you for visiting Hungry Happenings 

- Beth

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