Cliff S'mores Builder's Bar

We discussed Builder's Bars.  They are great.  But how does the S'mores flavor stack up to the Chocolate flavor?

Adequately.  It's probably not quite as good, but it is still sweet, chocolatey, and delicious (for a protein bar).  Note that there is no way to compare this to real chocolate or to real s'mores.  It is a protein bar.  But if you want a protein bar, this is a good bet.

Bottom Line: A trustworthy line of products.

some thoughts on chocolate calzones/pizzas/panini

There's a new artisanal pizza place in Clinton Hill called Emily. Let me be clear: Brooklyn has more artisanal pizza places already than any one city could ever need. But let me also be clear: artisanal pizza is not about "need." So I went.

Obviously Emily's greatest draw was its s'mores calzone. But I have to admit to being disappointed.



The chocolate was melty, and the marshmallow was melty, and the dough was fluffy, and all that was good-- but those three components didn't really work together right. There were a lot of bites that were just dough, which is wasteful. Also a fair few bites that were just dough and marshmallow, or just dough and chocolate. But too little of this calzone included both chocolate and marshmallow, and it was in those brief tastes that I had the full s'mores experience.

For a better delivery of chocolate pizza from an artisanal Brooklyn pizzeria, I recommend Forcella's nutella pizza. I was already obsessed with Forcella for savory reasons-- their montanara pizza is literally paradigm-shifting-- and when I tried their nutella pizza, I was even more on-board with this place. This is an excellent chocolate-to-dough ratio.



The one that I most seek out, though, is Bocca Lupo's nutella and banana panino. It's just perfect. I would eat any of these Italian desserts again, but Bocca Lupo's is the one that I would journey farthest for.



BOTTOM LINE: Have you noticed that these restaurants call these "calzones," "stuffed pizzas," and "panini," but they are all basically the same dessert? Discuss.

Jomart Chocolates Smores Bar

At a recent trip to Treehaus, I tried their S'mores bar, just to make Leila jealous.

Unlike Leila, I am not nearly as big a fan of S'mores.  So the fact that this was not an authentic experience did not bother me.  But I think this is closer than most, with nice graham gracker and (vegan) marshmallow to go with a heapin' helpin' of dark chocolate.  Definitely delicious.

Bottom Line: While not yet cleared by our resident S'mores lover, this bar is approved by a chocolate lover.

Winter Warmers

Winter Warmers is a brand-new, seasonal s'mores and hot chocolate shop that opened on Halloween in Park Slope.



As you know, I have tried many s'mores-related food products. None of them have ever compared to the experience of lighting a campfire and pulling out the Nabisco grahams, the Hershey's milk chocolate, and the jet-puffed marshmallows. Some things are just better non-artisanal. But that doesn't stop me from hoping.

In Winter Warmers, I have found my so-far favorite non-campfire s'more product. It does not succeed in replicating the campfire experience. But that's just fine because it's not trying to. It's doing something different.

First, you choose your cookies: graham crackers or homemade cookies? Next, you choose your marshmallow flavor from four different options. Then your chocolate: milk or dark? Finally, you can put on toppings from this wall of candy jars, which is an intriguing s'mores addition.



Then everything goes in an oven-like device for a moment, until it's all melty. Below you can see what Emily and I ate. We wanted something as far off from typical s'mores as possible, so we went with the homemade cookies, the pumpkin marshmallow, the dark chocolate, and some crushed nuts.



Delicious.

My one critique of this place was their hot chocolate. They offer three options: a pumpkin white chocolate (not interested--you know how I feel about white chocolate), a milk chocolate (you know my feelings on that as well), and a spiced dark chocolate, which was obviously what I went for.

The flavor and richness of the hot chocolate seemed good, but it was not warm enough, and they didn't have a way to heat it up any more when we asked. I am going to let this go, though, because I showed up on only their second day in business, which may be too soon to be making demands. I would re-order this hot chocolate at a later date, once they've figured out their temperature controls more.

BOTTOM LINE: Winter Warmers is only around until March, so don't wait! This is a great way to bring a summer campfire dessert into the winter months.

Super Foxy Sweets S'mores Fudge

 We like Super Foxy Sweets here.  And this isn't bad:

But there is really nothing very "S'more" about this.  There are some small vegan marshmallows (not too many), and nothing resembling graham cracker.

Bottom Line: Basically the same as their regular fudge, but sometimes there is a little vegan marshmallow that doesn't really change the taste because it's all just sugar anyways.

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.

Hammond's More S'Mores

As you know by now, I love s'mores, so it should come as no surprise that I love the idea of this Hammond's s'mores bar.

Unfortunately, it's better in marketing copy than it is in reality. I've had some s'mores candy bars that I've really enjoyed before, though obviously it is an inherent challenge to try to replicate the taste of a warm, melty dessert in a pre-packaged bar, so some allowances must be made.

Hammond's take on the s'more bar includes of milk chocolate of a fine quality, but I am not a milk chocolate fan. There's a little bit of marshmallow fluff-like substance in the center of each square, but not enough to make a big taste impact. I could not identify any graham crackers in here, so even if they were hiding somewhere, they were not substantial enough to add to the bar's texture.

This Hammond's More S'mores bar is candy. Which is nothing to be ashamed of. It's just not serious chocolate, that's all.

BOTTOM LINE: For really excellent s'mores flavor, I would look first to the Liddabit Sweets s'mores bar. Or, frankly, I would just build a fire and eat a real-life s'more.

S'more Bakery

Here are two important facts about me:

1) S'mores are one of my favorite foods in the entire world.
2) I love artisanal things.

When you combine these two facts, it should go without saying that the idea of artisanal s'mores really, really appealed to me.

S'more Bakery was at Smorgasburg this weekend, so obviously I had to try one of their s'mores. They have such an extensive menu! Pumpkin-flavored marshmallows! Vanilla bean specked salted caramel sauce! Whole wheat graham crackers! I ordered "the chocolatiest thing you have," and they gave me a marshmallow with dark chocolate ganache sandwiched between chocolate grahams.

Here's the thing, though: I didn't love it. It was fine, in that it is impossible for chocolate and marshmallows to ever be anything worse than fine. But the truth is that a man who is browning a marshmallow with a handheld torch is just never going to be as good as actually roasting a marshmallow over an open flame. It just can't be. You cannot get the right s'more consistency without a bonfire, and I know because I have tried.

I have never found a s'more, no matter how artisanal and fancy the ingredients, that compares to Hershey's milk chocolate, Nabisco grahams, and cheap marshmallows perfectly burned over a campfire.

BOTTOM LINE: Creative idea and ingredients with a disappointing meltiness and consistency.