On Valentine’s day I met my husband at his office and we went to one of our favorite restaurants in town for hot tomato soup and herbed bread. Afterwards, we went to the grocery store for a few things and after he saw me pick up a package of chocolate covered butter cookies, then a bag of marshmallows he asked excitedly “Are you making s’mores!?!” I simply replied with “You’ll see.” I walked him back to his office, we said our goodbyes as I rode off. Turning back to catch a final glimpse of him before rounding the corner, I saw him waving and yelling “Goodbye my looooove!” Luckily nothing and no one was in front of me while I was looking back to catch one last glimpse.
I saw somewhere online the idea of making love s’mores with marshmallows shaped like hearts, but here in Germany they don’t sell those. Since I’m always trying to tweak what I do have to make something new. I bought a bag of regular marshmallows and thought I could cut them into heart shapes with a knife, but the marshmallows did not cooperate. I needed to come up with a plan B.
Why hadn’t I just baked a cake? Or a batch of his favorite cookies? Ideas started whirling through my mind. He loves chocolate pudding, which we have. We have the cookies and the marshmallows I’d just bought. Hmmm… I took the cookies covered on one side with chocolate and I chopped them up roughly. I mixed up the pudding according to the package directions, and  let that set up a bit in the fridge. I suddenly remembered that we had 2 jars of marshmallow fluff that we bought at a local shop during their annual “American Food” week.  During this magical week we can buy Campbell’s tomato soup, Hunt’s BBQ sauce, French’s mustard, and Marshmallow Fluff, along with peculiar “American” favorites like blueberry juice and boxes of donut mix. I grabbed a jar from the shelf and wondered if this would work better than shaping marshmallows.

That evening, after we had dinner at a local wine and steak bar, we arrived home and I told him not to come into the kitchen, I needed 10 minutes to prep something special. As he waited patiently I grabbed a large martini glass, added a bit of the crushed cookies to the bottom, layered with chocolate pudding then carefully placed two spoonfuls of marshmallow fluff into a heart shape on top. I used my kitchen torch to toast the top of the marshmallow heart which gave off the unmistakable scent of roasting marshmallows around a summer campfire. From the next room he called out “What is that smell?!” I grabbed two small spoons and brought the s’more martini into the living room and he asked “Peewee! What did you make?!?” I told him the story I shared with you above and he loved it. The dessert was delicious and a hit!

S’more Dessert Martini
makes 4 servings

2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/4 cups of milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 jar of marshmallow fluff
1 box of cookies

Lightly beat the egg yolks in a bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix the cornstarch and cocoa together. Add 1 cup of the milk and whisk until smooth. In a saucepan, pour the remaining milk, sugar, salt and mix. Bring to a boil while whisking continuously. Remove from heat and stir in the cornstarch and cocoa mixture using a whisk. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Gradually whisk 1 cup of the chocolate sauce into the egg yolks. Pour the egg and chocolate mixture into the pan and stir while cooking over low heat for 2 minutes without boiling. Then remove from heat. Add the vanilla and place either in glasses or in a bowl and refrigerate for an hour.

To prepare the s’more dessert martini

Chop 2 cookies per serving and place into the bottom of each martini glass. Spoon two heaping spoonfuls of the chocolate pudding on top of the chopped cookies, top with two spoonfuls of marshmallow fluff in a V shape. Then, gently shaping the fluff into a shape of a heart. Lastly, toast the top of the marshmallow fluff with a kitchen torch to create the roasted marshmallow smell and flavor. Serve immediately.