Before beginning with the recipe, can we just take a minute to look at the gorgeous cake stand my friend E made me? It’s a one-of-a-kind piece. Now why s’mores? Fall is kinda over, and summer isn’t quite yet here. 2020 has been A the year, nothing is as it was so why should s’mores not be an all the time dessert? Take them up a notch with this tart recipe, guaranteed to wow those that are lucky enough to be in your social distancing bubble. Now if smores aren’t your thing, I think this might be. Take my word for it or don’t, you probably shouldn’t, I am bias after all. This recipe was approved by my panel of recipe testers, currently limited to those within my household, but they haven’t let me down yet. Please enjoy!

Some notes before your journey into the toasted chocolatey abyss.....

This can be made day before you plan to serve it. Just do the crust and the pudding and store covered in the frigde. You'll want to do the marshmallow making/torching right before serving.
Once made and consumed, the leftovers should be stored in the frigde.

Crust:

I found ground graham crackers crumbs in the baking aisle near the box cake mixes. If you can find this, it will save some time and dishes!
an offset spatula/bottom of a cup would help to smooth out the crust and make an even flat surface.
I usually melt the butter in the microwave and dump the sugar and graham cracker crumbs into the same bowl after, making this a one dish step.

Pudding:

When cracking the eggs for this, make sure to reserve the whites for the marshmallow topping! You can put them in a covered bowl in the fridge until you are ready to use.
Avoid getting any yolk into the whites! This is important, any yolks in your whites will prevent a nice, whipped marshmallow topping.
for the pudding, it helps to whisk the egg/sugar/cornstarch mixture well first, that way when mixing in your milks its easier to do it one handed.
It might help to add a towel or something under your bowl to prevent your bowl from moving too much when whisking in the warm milk
when adding the warm milk to the eggs you want to make sure to not let it stand, and to constantly be whisking. This is to prevent having scrambled eggs in your pudding.
I havent tried this with anything but whole milk, but I imagine 2% could work as well.
You could also replace the heavy cream with more whole milk, this I have tried with great results.
I used Ghirardelli, baking bars in semisweet to make this, you can also use bittersweet or dark chocolate. The better the chocolate quality the better the result.

Topping:

Only use fresh egg whites for the marshmallow frosting, best to use the egg whites from the pudding yolks. Egg whites from the carton do not whip well.
For the marshmallow topping make sure that there are no egg yolks in the whites. This will prevent it from whipping properly. Make sure that the bowl is completely clean. If you are worried it still might not be, rinsing with white vinegar and drying completely will help.
Prepare the topping once the custard has set and you are almost ready to serve it.
You can use a kitchen torch to toast the top of the marshmallow, but if you don’t have one you can also set your oven on broil and while leaving it open and watching it carefully have it toast.

S'mores Tart

Makes a 9in Tart

Ingredients

Tart Crust

1½ cup graham crackers, finely ground (170g)
¼ cup granulated sugar (50g)
6 tb unsalted butter, melted (87g)

Chocolate Pudding

1½ cup whole milk (300g)
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1½ tbs cornstarch (20g)
3 egg yolks (reserve the whites)
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
6oz quality semisweet chocolate, chopped (170g)

Marshmallow Topping

3 egg whites (90g)
½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Instructions:

Tart Crust

Combined all ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a spatula or spoon. It will resemble wet sand.

Add to your tart pan making sure to flatten and level it out against the bottom and sides of the pan, leaving a smooth surface.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge until ready to use.

Chocolate Pudding

In a decent sized bowl, whisk your egg yolks, cornstarch, salt, and sugar until smooth and uniform in color. Set aside.

In a saucepan on medium low heat, add the whole milk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Gently whisk and allow to warm making sure to not let it boil. It just needs to be warm to the touch.

Take your warmed milk mixture and slowly add it to the bowl of your egg yolks. Do this step very slowly making sure to begin whisking before the warm milk hits the egg mixture. Once half of the liquid has been added, the rest can be added in all at once while still whisking. This is now the base for your pudding.
Return the pudding base back to the saucepan on medium low heat, whisk until the pudding has thickened significantly about 11-13 min.
Once thick, remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate, whisking until fully melted.
Optional: For a smoother pudding, sieve it before adding to tart crust.
Add to your prepared tart pan, leveling out the top. Cover the top with plastic wrap making sure that it is flush against the pudding and place in fridge until set (about 4 hours) or overnight.

Marshmallow Topping

In the bowl of your stand mixture add in your egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar. Gently give it a bit of a whisk around.
Place the bowl on top of a saucepan with water on medium heat or use a double boiler (I find it easier to do this step in the bowl you will be whipping the marshmallow in), this will heat the egg whites with the steam from the water. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl isn’t in direct contact with the water.
Constantly whisk this mixture until the sugar has dissolved about 9 min/ the temperature has reached 160. A good indicator of doneness is to quickly touch the mixture and rub fingers together and see if it feels smooth. If it feels grainy the sugar hasn’t dissolved and it isn’t ready.
Once its “cooked” add vanilla and with the whisk attachment beat on high until the whites have whipped to stiff peaks and the mixture has doubled in size, about 2 minutes.
Spoon or pipe on to your chilled tart. Optional: using a kitchen torch, lightly torch the top giving it that toasted marshmallow look.