S’more tart

It is summertime and I live in an apartment with no outdoor space and definitely no where to have a fire, which means I am CRAVING s’mores with no real way to make them. This dilemma lead me to try to create a dessert with all the flavors of this favorite summer treat. The recipe below makes way too much meringue for one tart, but you could bake it up the extra as cookies or pavlova. You can see in the photos that I put the chocolate on the bottom, but I am recommending putting the graham cracker on the bottom. This will allow the meringue to stick to the chocolate so it will slice easier. This should serve 14 people easily and probably more, it is incredibly rich.

Ingredients:

One 14x5.75 inch tart pan

For the shell:

2 1/3 cups flour

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp salt

zest of 1 lemon

12 Tblsp cold butter, cubed.

3 egg yolks

2 oz heavy cream

a couple spoonfuls of vodka (if needed)

12 tblsp

For the filling:

12 oz chocolate

6 oz heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp liquid hickory smoke

3 graham crackers crushed (~1/2 a cup)

For the meringue:

5 egg whites

juice from 1/2 a lemon

1 cup sugar

1/3 c water

For the tart shell (adapted from this one)- this recipe makes enough for two shells, bake one and freeze the rest for another day. Pulse the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse a few times until sandy. Add in the egg yolks and cream, pulsing again to bring the pastry together. Add up to 2 tablespoons of vodka if the pastry needs help coming together. Turn the pastry out and form a rough rectangle, cut in half, wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree fahrenheit. Take one of the pastry rectangles out and roll it out onto parchment paper. Line the tart pan, prick the botton all over with a fork, add pie weights (I use a combination of rice, black beans, and buckwheat), and pop it into the oven for 30 minutes to bake. After 30 minutes, take off the weights and put the tart in for an additional 15 minutes until golden. Take out and leave the shell to cool.

Once the tart shell is cool, crush the 3 graham crackers and spread over the bottom of the tart shell.

Weigh out 12 ounces of chocolate with 6 ounces of heavy cream. Add in liquid smoke and vanilla. Microwave in 15 second increments, stirring vigorously until cool each time, or place in a double boiler and stir to melt.

Once the chocolate is melted and the ganache is thick and shiny, pour it into the tart shell, spreading it evenly. Place the chocolate filled tart into the refrigerator to cool for an hour.

Once the chocolate is set, start the meringue. Add the 5 egg whites and lemon juice to the bowl of an electric mixer and start mixing on medium, leaving them to whip to soft peaks. While the eggs beat, heat the sugar and water together to 240 degrees. When the egg whites are at soft peaks, begin slowly pouring the boiling syrup into the bowl while the whisk continues running. Be extremely careful - that syrup is HOT and will definitely burn. Once all of the syrup is incorporated, turn the mixer onto high and beat until stiff and glossy.

Pipe meringue on top of the tart in a decorative pattern, then toast the top of the meringue with a torch. Serve chilled and slice thin.