S’mores in a Jar

Ingredients:

•Marshmallow Meringue Frosting (recipe follows)

•Your favorite chocolate cake recipe, baked and cooled

(if using a box cake mix, you will use . of the finished cake)

•Dark Chocolate Syrup (recipe follows)

•(1) box graham cracker sticks, about 2 cups roughly crushed in a zip lock bag using a

rolling pin. Reserve 12 cracker sticks for garnish.

•Full size Hershey Bar, carefully sliced into individual mini bars (see photo)

to use as garnish. This works best with room temperature bars, set on

a cutting board and cut with a large chef’s knife.

Tools and other items needed:

•Kitchen torch for browning meringue topping

•12 mini mason jars

•Piping bag and tip (see meringue recipe for details)

Instructions:

Crumble the cake into bite size pieces and set aside.

Make the Dark Chocolate Syrup and set aside.

Make the Marshmallow Meringue Frosting and set aside.

Set the 12 mason jars on the counter ready to fill.

Assemble the S’mores, layering in the following order:

•Place about . cup crumbled cake pieces in the base of each jar.

•Top with about 1 Tbsp of Dark Chocolate Syrup.

•Spoon 3 Tbsp graham cracker crumbs over syrup.

•Pipe a swirl of meringue frosting over the crumbs.

•Repeat layers once, ending with graham crumbs just below top of glass.

•Pipe a swirl of meringue on top of the crumbs.

•Using the kitchen torch held about 3” away from the surface,

quickly sear the meringues to give a toasted marshmallow look.

•Insert a chocolate piece and a graham stick as a garnish and serve!

Marshmallow Meringue Frosting

4 egg whites, at room temperature

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1 cup sugar, ground fine in food processor

2 Tbsp light corn syrup

. tsp pure vanilla extract

piping bag fitted with Ateco 809 tip (or any 5/8”-3/4” round opening tip)

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer using the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and

cream of tartar on medium high speed for about 2 minutes, or until frothy.

Reduce speed to medium and slowly add the sugar.

Add the corn syrup and vanilla extract and beat about 8-10 minutes until the mixture becomes

glossy and stiff peaks form when lifting the beater. If it is too thin, beat another minute or two

until stiff peaks form.

Scoop into piping bag.

Dark Chocolate Syrup

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 Tbsp

2/3 cup Dutch Process Cocoa (find in specialty kitchen stores, online at

kingarthurflour.com, or in grocery stores as Hershey Special Dark cocoa powder)

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk water and sugar until sugar is dissolved.

Whisk in Dutch process cocoa and salt, and stir constantly over medium heat until mixture

thickens slightly, about 4-5 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and set aside.

Recipe developed by Scrumptious Catering Company, Judy Beaudin

Chicken Thighs with Bacon, Mushroom, & Garlic Cream Sauce

 Chicken:

6 slices apple wood smoked bacon

2 tablespoon butter, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, at room temperature

kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper

Mushroom Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

16 oz. sliced baby Portobello mushrooms

½ cup white wine

½ cup chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

¾ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (do not use pre shredded Parmesan!),

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350º.

Pat chicken pieces dry and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large stainless steel saute pan or large enamel coated cast iron skillet (no nonstick pans for this dish), fry the bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoons drippings in the pan and any baked on bits, and pour remaining drippings into a heat proof small bowl. Chop the bacon into ½” pieces and set aside.

Adjust the heat to medium and add 1tablespoon of the butter to the bacon drippings in the pan. Saute the garlic for 1 minute. With a slotted spoon, remove the garlic and set aside (you will be putting this back in the pan in just a bit).

Turn the heat up to medium high, add the olive oil, 1 tablespoon butter and swirl the pan to combine and coat the entire surface. Place the chicken thighs, top side down, into the pan. Test with the edge of one piece before adding the rest. You should hear a distinct sizzle. If not, your pan is not hot enough. Turn up the heat and wait a minute or so, then place all the chicken pieces in the pan. Leave without moving them for about 3 minutes or until browned. Lift one of the thighs to peek and see if you have a good brown sear. If not, add another minute. If the thighs are stuck to the pan, this means they are not ready to flip. Wait until they are released and flip over. Cook for just a minute on this side, then transfer thighs to a baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved garlic over the thighs Drain excess chicken grease from the pan, but leave all baked on bits..

Place the chicken into the oven. Set a timer for 8 minutes. After 8 minutes, check chicken with an instant read thermometer. If it reads 165, they are DONE. Pull out of the oven, cover with foil and keep warm while you make the mushroom sauce.

Make the Mushroom Sauce:

In the saute pan used for the chicken and bacon, reduce heat to medium, and SLOWLY add half of the wine to deglaze the pan (be careful, it can sizzle pretty wildly). Use a whisk to help the browned bits dislodge from the bottom of the pan. Stir for a minute until slightly reduced.

Add the 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan, stirring to melt, and dump in all the mushrooms. Turn heat back up to medium high. Stir to coat the mushrooms, and continue to saute them for about 7-8 minutes or until browned and tender.

Add remaining wine and the chicken broth to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half, stirring occasionally.

Add heavy cream and Parmigiano Reggiano and cook, stirring constantly with a whisk, for about 5-7 minutes or until thickened. 

Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Stir in part of the bacon bits and the parsley. Place chicken thighs back into the pan, and spoon a little sauce over each one.

Serve with extra bacon bits and Parmigiano Reggiano. Enjoy!!