Dominique Ansel Bakery Frozen S'more

Most people at this point are aware of Soho hotspot Dominique Ansel Bakery as the creator of the cronut.



What you may not know is that Dominiqe Ansel is also, as of late, the creator of the frozen s'more. Now, we here at Chocolate NYC are big s'more fans, and we are also big fans of frozen desserts, so obviously I needed to check this out.

When I got to Dominique Ansel this afternoon, there was a fair line, but nothing like the line that I've heard gathers there prior to opening every morning as people desperately wait three hours for a cronut.

I did not see "frozen s'more" listed on the menu, so maybe it is some secret thing and I was ordering "off-menu," which sounds cool. Or maybe I just didn't read the board carefully enough.

Nonetheless, I got my frozen s'more. It cost more than $7. Right away, this put me on edge. I understand that a frozen s'more is a unique innovation, unavailable anywhere else, and therefore Dominique Ansel can capitalize on having a frozen s'more monopoly - but really? Seven dollars? This felt like a trick.

For the first few bites, this just seemed to be a giant marshmallow that had been browned with an electric lighter. It was not frozen. It was an excellent, artisanal marshmallow, to be sure, but still just a normal roasted marshmallow.



I ate a little further and eventually came to the frozen bit. This was buried inside the marshmallow, encased on all sides, which seems challenging for a pastry chef to manage. Is it seven dollars worth of challenging? Eh.



The frozen bit inside was some ice cream (I think vanilla?) and some delicious chocolate crunchy things. There weren't that many of the chocolate crunchy things, though. There was an extremely high marshmallow-to-frozen/chocolate stuff ratio, to the point where I even threw away some marshmallow at the end.

Guys, it was okay. It was in no way $7 worth of impressive.

I think the lesson we have now learned twice is that s'mores are perfect with grocery store graham crackers, jet-puffed marshmallows, and a bar of Hershey's. Every time someone tries to complicate that, I just get disappointed.

BOTTOM LINE: I still love the idea of a frozen s'more and want to see it perfected. This version is, at best, a first step down that road.