Sweets for my Sweets

So - our grill is officially broken into, what with two back to back BBQs and all.

On Friday, the Gigya folks came over for a grilled lunch party (featuring New York Steaks, Chicken Breasts, sausages, homemade sauces: Romesco, Ramp Aioli, Apple Mint jelly), and then we played Catch Phrase courtesy of Patrick. End result? A recycling bin full of beer bottles!

And then, Saturday came along, and we had our VERY FIRST potluck. It was a Bring Your Own Favorite Food BBQ, where all our friends showed up with... well, their favorite food.

Some spoils - Satay, Pineapple & Chicken Kebabs(if you haven't had BBQed pineapple, now's the time), sweet potato wrapped in foil


Chef Laura didn't do anything and instead, ordered food - like a burger, Kalbi, more Kalbi, and did I mentioned, Kalbi? (Watch out Korea, here I come...)


OK I lied. I did do something - taught Kevin how to grill burgers properly


For both BBQs, I made a dessert that was a hit with everyone. I daresay it will be on the "request please list" for future events. As I was thinking of what to make, I couldn't help but get S'mores out of my head. After all, what could be more quintessential at a BBQ than Smores? Also, I had been tinkering with marshmallows for a while now, and now feel like I have the perfect recipe - so I wanted to see if it would stand up to chocolates & graham.

It would have been too much of a hassle to have everyone roast their own marshmallows, so I figured that the more perfect thing would be to make a pie! They make graham crusts anyway, so it would be doubly easy, and as you know, I love it when things are easy. I poured chocolate into the crust as a filling, then topped the pie with homemade marshmallow that was then stuck in the oven to broil. Originally, I thought I made a mistake by using truffle chocolate, and put it in the freezer to set. However, when i took it out to serve, it made cutting the pie just a whole lot easier, and the frozen truffle tasted like ice cream!


Chef Laura cutting the sticky smores pie


I would use my homemade marshmallow for this, but if you have no time, you can just use store bought marshmallows to top the pie before broiling. Make sure to make this a day ahead to set the chocolate, and then freeze for at least another 4 hours before serving.


Tada! Doesn't that look absolutely sinful?


Smores Pie

1/2 lb Good Quality Chocolate
1.5 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbs butter

1 ea Graham Pie Crust
1 ea Egg

1 batch Marshmallow topping (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350F
Brush the egg over the graham crust and bake for 10 minutes til golden
Remove from oven and let cool
Scald the heavy cream in a sauce pan, and then pour over chocolate
Whisk to melt chocolate, and leave to cool to room temperature
Whisk in the butter then pour chocolate mixture into pie crust
Freeze overnight
Using an oiled spatula, smooth Marshmallow over chocolate truffle filling
Use spatula to form light peaks
Broil in oven for 1 minute or until marshmallow is lightly brown

Homemade Marshmallows


1 packet Gelatin Powder (1/4 oz sachet)
2 ea Egg Whites
2 Tbs Cold Water

2 cups Sugar
2/3 cup Light corn syrup
1/4 cup Water
1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1/2 cup Rice Flour


In a large mixing bowl, sprinkle the gelatin powder over the cold water
Leave to bloom about 10 minutes
Add the egg whites to the gelation mixture and whisk until foamy & light
combine the sugar, corn syrup and remaining 1/4 cup water in a sauce pan
Bring to a boil, until about 240F, or until mixture is somewhere between the soft and hardball stage
With the mixer running, pour the sugar syrup slowly down the sides of the bowl into the egg white mixture
Increase to high speed and beat until marshmallows are fluffy

At this stage, you can then frost the Smores pie

If you'd like to store the marshmallows, spread them an oiled pan, and leave to set about 4 hours at room temperature

Combine the Powdered sugar & Flour together and dust set marshmallow with mixture.
Turn out from Pan and dust flip sides
Cut into squares, then drege in sugar mixture
Store in airtight container for about 1 week