Americanization, late nights at the office and knowing better but still making the same mistakes.  Oh, yeah, and alcoholic s’mores

Last couple months have been busy – busy days at work/school means I don’t really feel like baking/blogging and eschew it for things like spending time with friends.  (We drink cocktails together so…research?  Yeah, lets call it R&D).

Hi folks, the Boozy Bakeshop has been in an intense period of R&D.  Apologies for the lack of recipe updates.  But we’ve entered some exciting Phase 2 studies that hold promise for future product development.  We’re still beta testing but have some paradigm-shifting, thought-starters that with the right creative force can refocus out of the box strategy.

And by that I mean I made marshmallows.  Various flavors, including bourbon b/c well, why not?  Oh yeah, and I have this darling friend who’s never eaten a s’more before because she grew up in the land of crepes and cream puffs and wasn’t forced into girl scout camp or consumption of Hershey bars.

The bourbon marshmallows didn’t fluff up proper because SCIENCE!! I didn’t add the extra gelatin necessary to counteract the alcohol.  I knew this would fail, but did it anyway cause I’m just a hopeless romantic hoping that counter-intuitive bonds will somehow fuse beyond laws of chemistry and work out like a romantic comedy producing saccharine delight.  But that flies in the face of reality.

So while my friend sadly got an imperfect alcoholic s’more, below is the perfect alcoholic s’more.  Since I’m older and wiser now than I was yesterday, it’s based on a 3 wise men.

Wise men (and women) eat s’mores. True story.

Drunk S’more (3 Wise Men Sammich)

Ingredients:

• Vegetable oil for pan
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin (about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1/3 cup whiskey (Jack)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/8 teas salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teas nutmeg
• Confectioners’ sugar, for cutting/coating
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
• 2 Tbs bourbon (Jim)
• 1/2 c Boozy Bakeshop ButterScotch (Johnnie)
• 8 store-bought graham crackers, split in half

Coat a 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable oil, ; line with
parchment, coat parchment with vegetable oil.  Sprinkle gelatin over
1/3 cup water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and let sit for 5 minutes.

Heat granulated sugar, corn syrup,  1/3 cup Jack, and
1/8 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally,
until syrup reaches 238 degrees on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes.

Whisk gelatin in mixer on high speed for a minute, reduce speed to low and slowly pour in syrup in a steady stream down side of bowl. Gradually  increase speed to high, and whisk for about 8 minutes or until almost tripled in volume.  Whisk in vanilla, nutmeg.  Transfer to baking pan and smooth evenly. Let stand least 3 hours at room temp until set (unless your apt is really hot, and then the fridge can be a good idea).  Cut into 2 inch squares using a knife dipped in confectioner’s sugar.  Coat marshmallows in more confectioner’s sugar to prevent sticking

Before serving, melt your favorite semi sweet chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, (don’t seize!), with Jim Beam, or other bourbon.  On a non flammable plate, pack one half of a graham cracker sheet, (a two cookie square).  Place marshmallow on top and cautiously flame with a creme brulee/kitchen torch, (it’s easy to go overkill, but you want ti warm and melty, not super charred, low and slow heat is better).  drizzle with chocolate and butterScotch.  Top with remaining half cracker. Devour.