The Trendiest Birthday Cake Around

Smores are so trendy right now. Don't you think? Well since I am THE go to girl for all things trend this is what I landed on when brainstorming for a friend's birthday who said he is "a big fan of cake" (jackpot, otherwise we probably would've had a friend break-up on our hands).

Smores Cake

What you need: 

• two layers of chocolate cake, any recipe or box mix
• 3-4 graham crackers, crushed
• half a bag of marshmallows, any size (i tore big ones in half so a smarter person could've just used the little ones)
• bag of chocolate chips
• a pint of heavy whipping cream
• a kitchen torch (or use the broiler if you're not a pyro)

You may know that I love any excuse to use my kitchen blow torch, but one of the most fun ways is to burn marshmallows. It is science right in front of your eyes! My idea was really the filling/frosting combination. I'm not going to pretend I made up a chocolate cake recipe. I turned to my dear friend Ree for that part. So I started by making this recipe, which I halved b/c I did not want it four layers (whoa). I baked the cakes the night before so they would be really cool and ready to fill. 

Step 1: Position the mallows

This picture is early in the process. I ended up tearing the big size mallows in half and laying one layer across the whole cake. 

Step 2: Torch the mallows

Totally gratuitous picture of fire, you're welcome. Burn them until they are melty and charred to your liking. You could do this under the broiler but you won't get to witness as much science happening. Sprinkle crushed up graham crackers on top of the melty mallows. Gently press them down so they'll become one with the gooeyness. 

Step 3: The Ganache Glue

I thought the top layer of cake might need something a little bit stickier to be convinced to stay in place. On medium heat bring some heavy whipping cream to a boil (about a cup to a cup and a half, I eyeballed it and had too much). The medium heat is crucial, take it from someone who has scrubbed scorched cream out of the bottom of a pan more than once in her life. Once the cream is very hot, pour it over a bowl of chocolate chips. I had half a bag in a small mixing bowl. Pour until the cream is just covering the chips. Whisk until the chips are completely melted and you have a beautiful ganache. Drizzle it on top of the graham crackers and gently spread it as best you can without messing up your mallow masterpiece. Plop the second layer on top and press it into the filling. At this point I put the cake in the fridge for a few hours. That's optional. 

Step 4: The Final Touch

Drizzle more ganache over the top and put just enough so it runs down the sides looking oh so professional (HA). I made more ganache for this step because I did it later in the day. If you don't think you have enough, make more using the other half of the bag of chocolate chips.  

At serving time I put one big marshmallow on top and lit it on fire instead of a candle! It was one of those small things that made me so happy I did a jig in the kitchen.

So there you have it. My latest kitchen project. What have you made lately? What makes you so happy you can't resist doing a jig?