eggless s'mores layer cake
adapted from america's test kitchen (paywall; graham crackers), baran bakery (graham cracker cake), america's test kitchen (paywall; ganache), fly peach pie (vegan marshmallow fluff), two sisters crafting (marshmallow buttercream frosting)
yields 1 three-layer 6 in cake
this is exactly how i made the cake on thursday. pay attention to my notes (will be bolded and italicized) throughout about how i would have done it better or made my life easier. if you like how the cake turned out then do it as described.
based on the final flavor of the marshmallow butter cream frosting, i could have saved a lot of time and effort by just making a vanilla buttercream, or just frosting it in a merengue then torching it for dramatic flair. still including the marshmallow steps just in case. if you're looking to make life easier, go for something like this vanilla frosting recipe from sugar spun run, but double or even triple the vanilla content. bonus points for using a vanilla bean paste. vanilla is the hallmark flavor of marshmallows so if marshmallow is really what you're going for, up the vanilla ante.
the dark chocolate ganache recipe i used used the stove/microwave and a food processor and four ingredients. id say you could get away with something a little simpler like this ganache recipe from sally's baking addiction with only two ingredients.
3 oz semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate of high quality (i used a bar of 60% dark chocolate from ghiradelli since that's what was in my pantry. you can go up to 75%.
117 g or 3/4 c graham flour or whole wheat flour
53 g or 3/8 c all purpose flour
50 g or 1/4 c white granulated sugar
4 T or half a stick of unsalted butter
parchment paper or silicone baking mat
240 g or 2 c all purpose flour
graham crackers (can be store bought or using the recipe in this write up. either is fine. i chose to make it myself to ensure they were eggless)
10 g or 1 T baking powder
1/4 t ground cinnamon (highly recommended optional, i did add it)
190 g or 1 c light or dark brown sugar (original recipe didn't state which so i did a mix but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. if doing a mix i would go heavier on the dark brown bc of its higher molasses content which super duper lends to the graham-iness of it all)
100 g or 1/2 c granulated white sugar
56 g or 1/4 c softened unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 c neutral oil of your choice
180 g or 3/4 c seltzer/carbonated unflavored plain water
1 cup butter milk (you can use fresh. i used the dried powder since i don't use buttermilk often and didn't want to buy a whole thing of it)
release agent of your choice (everyone seems to have one that is their holy grail. mine is equal parts mix of all purpose flour, shortening, and neutral oil. i make a batch of this every once in a while and it is shelf stable so i just keep it in a jar in my pantry)
1 can or jar of chickpeas
140 g or 1/2 c of light corn syrup
160 g or 3/4 c of white granulated sugar
200 g or 2 c loosely packed powdered sugar
mixer with whisk attachment
marshmallow buttercream frosting
360 g or 3 c powdered sugar
1 c or 2 sticks of softened salted butter at room temp
chocolate ganache filling
chop up 3 oz of high quality semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate and add to food processor at least 4 cups large. if using a ghiradelli bar, chop up all squares except for one. use the last square for garnish
microwave the following together in a glass measuring cup with a handle until bubbling, about 1.5 mins (i used the stove with a small saucepan. if you do this don’t walk away from it as it can easily bubble over)
use 3/8 c for a thicker, darker filling. go up to 3/4 c heavy cream (this is what i did) until you’re at your desired milkiness
when bubbling, take it off heat and add an optional 1 T cognac or rum
with machine running, gradually add the hot butter/cream mixture through the feed tube/drip holes and process until smooth and thickened, about 3 mins
transfer ganache to bowl and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, until spreadable. move onto graham crackers while you wait for it
if not reaching desired consistency pop it in the fridge for a bit
cut 4 T or 1/2 a stick of unsalted butter into 1/2 in cubes and return them to the fridge to chill out until further notice
in a food processor with a bowl at least 4 cups large combine and process the following ingredients until combined, about 3 seconds
117 g or 3/4 c graham flour or whole wheat flour
53 g or 3/8 c all purpose flour
50 g or 1/4 c white granulated sugar
to the food processor add your pieces of butter from step one and process until you see no more pieces of butter and it is thoroughly combined. should resemble sand, about 15 seconds
add the following to the food processor and process until dough comes together, about 20 seconds
adjust oven rack to middle position and pre heat your oven to 375 F
line a half baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a piece of parchment paper
dump your dough onto the sheet pan and roll out between another piece of parchment or another silicone mat until thickness is something like 1/8 - 3/16″ thick
don’t stress out about the thickness. just roll it out to the thickness of a graham cracker and you will be fine. most of it will get crushed anyways
if you don’t use the second mat or parchment the dough will stick to your rolling pin or wine bottle!
score the formed dough mass using a pizza wheel, pastry cutter, fluted or unfluted, or a knife
this will help breaking it up easier. if desired, prick several times with a fork. i have no idea if this helps release steam or not. i didn’t do it and it was fine but i did score it multiple times
bake until golden brown and edges are firm, about 15 mins or until you can smell it.
i regularly make graham crackers for my parents and they like it a bit burned so i let it go further than 15 mins often. you can also tell when they’re done when you start to smell them
if you try to test the crackers by poking it while it’s in the oven it may still seem soft. better to go by color and smell since it hardens as it cools
slide baked crackers still on parchment or mat onto a wire cooling rack or some sort of vented thing and allow crackers to cool completely
break pieces apart into manageable pieces
if your butter is not already softened, take 1/2 stick or 1/4 c or 56 g unsalted butter and 180 g or 3/4 c carbonated water/seltzer and leave it out to come to room temperature
use a mortar and pestle or food processor to break up enough graham crackers until you get 1/2 c crumbs
in a medium bowl combine and whisk together the following
240 g or 2 c all purpose flour
1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
10 g or 1 T baking powder
if using powdered buttermilk, add enough buttermilk powder to make 1 c (according to your package). we will add the water later
if using fresh buttermilk, set one cup aside. if using powdered, set the amount of water needed to make one cup of buttermilk aside
in my case it was 1 cup of water
preheat oven to 350 F with the oven rack in the middle
grease and line three six inch cake pans with your release agent and parchment paper
see notes in ingredients for my release agent. i only used a circle of parchment in the bottom and not on the sides
i also only have two pans. after i baked the first two cakes i cleaned one out and did a batch of just the one cake
in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, use a mixer with a whisk attachment to beat together on medium speed, until light and fluffy (2-3 min)
56 g or 1/4 c or 1/2 stick unsalted softened butter
190 g or 1 c brown sugar (see note in ingredient section)
100 g or 1/2 c white granulated sugar
then add the seltzer in three stages, beating well after each stage, scraping bowl as needed
in alternating increments, add dry ingredients from step three, then buttermilk or water, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients
beat on medium speed until flour is fully incorporated, taking care not to overbeat
distribute batter evenly among three cake pans and bake for 30-35 mins, until tooth pick goes in and out with minimal/few crumbs
when done, remove from oven and allow to cool completely on cooling rack before frosting
Coming back tomorrow to finish this post!!
