It’s National S’mores Day! Three Fun Facts and a Killer Recipe
Thursday is the day before Friday, and what could possibly be better than that? How about National S’mores Day on a Thursday? I know what you’re saying. “Thursdays are exciting enough. If I added s’mores to my Thursday, my brain would overload with awesomeness.” But maybe you’ll make an exception for Unicorn S’mores?
Wait. Put that thought on pause. Before we share our killer recipe, let’s talk about the history of s’mores and their ingredients. After all, your s’more will taste that much sweeter when you’ve worked for it a little, right?
The first s’more recipe was found in the book Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts, published in 1927. At that time, the delicious treat was called “Some Mores” – the idea being if you have one s’more, you’re going to want to eat “some more.” We kind of have to agree with that! Leave it to the Girl Scouts to have the first word on America’s favorite sweet treat.
Speaking of America, it turns out Sylvester Graham, the guy graham crackers are named after, was a famous historical figure in the 1800s. Graham was a preacher who advocated for a diet of bland foods with plenty of whole grains as a way to stave off disease. His advice gained popularity during a cholera pandemic, and the result was a strong market for whole wheat crackers, which became known as “graham crackers.” But the graham crackers of the 1800s were very different from what we eat now. Back in the day, they were dense and not sweet at all. I for one am glad that graham crackers have gone from bland to nutty, toasty, sweet – the perfect companion for chocolate and marshmallows.
Ah, marshmallows. Big marshmallows that you squeeze between two crackers, little marshmallows to top off your hot chocolate, and any kind of marshmallow to throw onto a sweet potato pie. Marshmallows are a special kind of sweet, their texture unlike anything else. It turns out marshmallows were also considered healthy back in the day. The name “marshmallow” comes from its original ingredient: the sap of the mallow plant that — you guessed it — grew in marshes. Original recipes involved whipping the sap with sugar until it became light and fluffy, and this concoction was often used to treat sore throats.
Update from the 21st century for our predecessors: Graham crackers and marshmallows are no longer healthy. There are sweet and delicious. Combined with chocolate, they sure do make one heck of a treat. Enough reading, time to feast on some epic pics:
Mixing the marshmallow batter before forming it into marshmallows.
Marshmallows after being shaped and cut into rectangles.
Finished Unicorn S’more!
And check out our sick video. If you want to make these s’mores at home (and why wouldn’t you?), we’ve got a recipe for you!
Ingredients
- 6 packages of gelatin
- 2 cups of water
- 3 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cup of powdered sugar
- 1 cup of cornstarch
- Various types of food coloring
Directions
- In a small pot with a candy thermometer attached, add the sugar, corn syrup, and one cup of the water. Place over medium high heat and cook until the mixture reaches 240°F.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining 1 cup of water and the gelatin in the bowl of a stand mixer. Allow this to bloom while the sugar mixture is heating.
- When the temperature of the sugar reaches 240°F, turn off the heat and slowly drizzle the mixture into the stand mixer while it is running at low speed. Once all of the sugar is added, turn the speed up to high and whip until it becomes thick and slightly warm.
- While you wait for the mixture to whip, combine the cornstarch with the powdered sugar. Using a fine mesh strainer, dust a third of the powdered sugar mixture into a large baking dish.
- When the marshmallow mixture has become thick, add the vanilla extract and salt. Divide the mixture into four bowls and add food coloring and stir to combine. The amount of food coloring you need will depend on how rich of a color you want for your batch. Each bowl needs anywhere from 10-15 drops of color. Add the colored marshmallow to the baking dish, making a couple of piles per color. Using a small knife or chopstick, mix colors around. Dust the top of the marshmallow with half of the remaining powdered sugar mixture and allow it to set overnight in the refrigerator.
- Remove the marshmallows from the fridge and run a knife around the outside of the dish and flip over to release the marshmallow. Cut and portion the marshmallow into the shapes and sizes you want. Dust the pieces on all sides with the remaining powdered sugar mixture.
- There you go! You’ve got unicorn marshmallows ready to be sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker and your favorite chocolate. Heat them up around the campfire — or even on your grill with our S’mores Grilling Set! Mmmm.
