S’mores Cake
One of my all time favorite desserts is simple, satisfying, and great any time of the year. If you don’t know how much I really do like s’mores, I’ll give you a little glimpse of the lengths I’ve gone to just to have one. I’ve made them inside on a s’more maker (no lie, it exists), over a stove top, in the microwave, over a candle (bad idea), and the correct way – over a campfire.
Namaste mailed me a chocolate cake mix not too long ago, and I was a little excited about it. As I sat and really thought about it though, I wasn’t too thrilled about making just a plain chocolate cake. What could I do with the mix to make it REALLY awesome? I even asked people on twitter what a good filling would be. Within a couple hours I figured it out – it would be a s’mores cake!
There was one tiny problem with this idea. I had no idea how to go about creating graham cracker that I could eat that would actually taste great. Well, after a little bit of searching, I found Lauren’s recipe for GF Graham Wafers! I did have to modify it to make it casein free too. These graham crackers came out great!
Gluten-Free Graham Wafers
Slightly modified from CeliacTeen.com
Ingredients
1 cup Sweet rice flour
3/4 cup Tapioca Starch/Flour
1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar, Lightly packed
1 teaspoon Baking soda
3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
7 tablespoons GHEE (clarified butter) or Earth Balance (Cut/spooned into 1-inch cubes/balls and frozen)
1/3 cup Clover Honey
5 tablespoons Coconut Milk
2 tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.
In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.
Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.
Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.
Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit
Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.
Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.
Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take much less time, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. *Mine only took about 15 minutes to bake.
When cooled completely, store half the batch in an airtight container and enjoy anytime of the day. Place the other half the batch in a food processor to make crumbs for the cake! Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs. I used a magic bullet and it worked fine.
After the graham cracker crumbs were ready, I set them aside while I prepared the Namaste chocolate cake mix. The mix was easy! I only had to add eggs oil and water. The mix made enough for two 9” cakes. Obviously, you can use any chocolate cake recipe and this would turn out great. I just used the mix because I had it.
Once the cake is done, let it cool. That part is particularly tough for me. I just want to eat everything right after it comes out of the oven! While it’s cooling, make the marshmallow cream.
There are two choices for the marshmallow creme. I used the first option, a marshmallow recipe that uses gelatin. I know, I know, I’m still pretty paranoid about getting sick from raw eggs. I use THIS RECIPE from Alton Brown. I used it about 5 times this Christmas to make marshmallows for gifts, so I definitely trust it. The other option has fewer steps – click here for a recipe. Basically, you don’t have to boil the sugar & syrup, it’s a tad easier to spread, and it includes egg whites. I might try this eventually. For now, I’ll stick to what I’m used to. ☺
Now that everything has been made separately, all that’s left to do is assemble! Place one of the cakes on a cake stand or plate. I don’t have a cake stand (yet!), so I just used a large plate. Next, spread the graham cracker crumbs on top (enough to completely cover). Pour the marshmallow creme over the crumbs, and then top it with another layer of crumbs. You could also save a step in layer by mixing the graham cracker crumbs into the marshmallow cream. Top with the other layer of chocolate cake and you’re basically finished! The lovely people at Namaste sent me an icing mix, so I covered mine with fudge icing and drizzles marshmallow over the top. This would also be good just sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs or with melted chocolate poured over it. I hope this serves as an inspiration for more s’more like creations!
Hi, I’m Lisa. My body isn’t too fond of gluten, cow’s dairy, or soy. 