A few weeks ago, Casey of TasteStopping was going to sleepaway camp – Camp Blogaway, that is – and to celebrate, she and her sponsor, Regional Best, gave away a bunch of Gourmet S’mores Kits. I can’t begin to think how many years it’s been since I made S’mores. Maybe since I was a kid in camp, myself. Mmmm…. S’mores…

The kit included Middlebury Maple Crackers from Castleton Crackers of Vermont, Chocolate Puddles from Grocer’s Daughter Chocolates of Michigan, and (the main reason I entered the contest repeatedly) handmade Marshmallows from Kitchen Witch of Pennsylvania (a/k/a, Casey!). Can I tell you that the marshmallows were to die for?

I couldn’t wait – the evening the package arrived, we had S’mores for dessert. No campfire, not even a barbecue grill (we’ve been grill-less for like, going on 2 years now, and I am seriously starting to get cranky about it. But I digress.), I settled for the broiler element on my toaster oven. Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures!

Cool, huh?

And then, we ran out of chocolate puddles. And crackers big enough to make S’mores with. Now what to do with the leftovers? Well, let’s put on our thinking caps. What goes with summer as much as – or more than – S’mores? Ice cream!

MJ was skeptical, but in the end, he conceded that this was one of the best desserts he ever put in his mouth. So will you!

S’mores Ice Cream
(makes about 1-1/2 pints)

Ingredients:

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar (I used Florida Crystals Natural Cane Sugar)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 Tbs. cocoa powder

Stir-ins:

About 1/2 cup Middlebury Maple Crackers (or graham crackers, if you must) broken into small pieces
6 Kitchen Witch Gourmet Marshmallows (yeah, you can use regular store-bought)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preparation:

Cover your toaster oven tray with foil and spray with cooking spray. Spread the cracker pieces on the tray, place the marshmallows, side-by-side on top of the crackers, then sprinkle with chocolate chips. Broil in the toaster oven for a few minutes, until marshmallows begin to brown and get a bit gooey. Put the tray in the freezer to cool for about 20-30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, and cocoa. Pour mixture into the bowl of an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Remove the contents of the tray from freezer, and chop. Pull the marshmallows to bits if they’re not cutting cleanly.

Pour the soft-frozen ice cream into an air-tight container and fold in the “stir-ins”. Seal tightly and freeze until ready to eat – minimum one hour.

Thanks to Casey of TasteStopping and Regional Best for some of the best S’mores you’re likely to have – and the inspiration for some of the best ice cream ever!

But we’re not done yet! Casey invited each of us Gourmet S’mores Kit winners to post our “S’mores Experience” in a round-up. To see what the other 5 winners came up with, click on the graphics below:

Print this post for your Moleskine journal