What you’re looking at here is 2 layers of graham cracker cookie bar, an 8×8 slab of fudge brownie, and about 2 jars of marshmallow fluff toasted with a kitchen torch. (I brought the kitchen torch with me on the MetroNorth train, and definitely got some looks when it accidentally fell out of my camera bag, oops!) We used a knife and straw to make the top look like a real graham cracker and I piped the birthday message with melted chocolate. Epic? Definitely.
I emailed the list of ingredients for this cake to Marissa ahead of time since we’d be making it at her apartment in NYC, and she just about died when she saw that I was requesting 7 eggs and 3 sticks of butter. Mostly because she has a healthy cooking blog, but I’m sure it’s a little shocking to anyone. Just keep in mind this thing is HUGE and meant to serve a group of people, not a party of 2 (although it’s tempting, I know). This concoction is simply not healthy, there’s absolutely no nutritional value involved with ingesting it, but I highly recommend you do so anyway ;-)
I know this might all sound slightly overwhelming, but it’s not as hard as you may think — the brownies were boxed, the marshmallow comes in a jar, and cookie bars are one of the simplest things to bake from scratch. It’s a perfect farewell-to-summer treat so go ahead and give it a try, your friends will love you and let’s face it, playing with a kitchen torch is always fun.
Giant S’Mores Cake
For the graham cracker cookie bars:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
For the brownies:
1 box fudge brownies
For the toasted marshmallow:
2 jars Marshmallow Fluff (about 15 oz)
Kitchen torch
– Start with the cookies first:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a 9×13″ pan with tinfoil or parchment paper, and grease lightly
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and combine
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, salt, and baking soda.
- Add dry ingredients to butter mixture slowly, and mix until just combined
- Pour batter into prepared pan, and use a spatula to spread evenly
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow cookie bar to cool completely in the pan before removing
– Then the brownies:
- Prepare brownies according to the box’s instructions in a tinfoil or parchment paper-lined and lightly greased 8×8″ pan
- Allow brownies to cool completely in the pan before removing
– Assembly:
- Remove cookie bar from pan as 1 piece and place on a cutting board. With a large serrated knife, shave off the sides so you’re left with a roughly 8×8″ piece. (There will be a lot of extras, but I’m sure you’ll find a use for them) Carefully cut the 8×8 slab in half horizontally so you end up with 2 equally-sized thin 8×8 cookies
- Cut out an 8×8″ piece of cardboard and place one of the cookies on top of it. Then remove the brownies from the pan in 1 piece and place on top of the cookie.
- Fill a piping bag (or ziploc bag) with fluff and cover the entire brownie in a relatively thick layer. The marshmallow will ooze down the sides, especially when you torch it, but that’s what happens in real s’mores too so it just adds some appropriate character.
- With a kitchen torch, torch the marshmallow uniformly so that each bite will have that toasted flavor. Be ready to blow out any bit that catches fire!
- Allow the marshmallow to set for a few minutes, and then place the final layer of cookie on top. Use a knife to make a perforated line down the middle and a straw to make the holes if you desire :)
As a pregnant woman I love you. As the pregnant woman who can only gain 15 pounds, not so much. And yet, I must make these for the first football party of the season. Mmmmmmmm.
I feel like my boyfriend would love this, maybe I will surprise him with it for a special occasion.
http://washingtondcfashion.blogspot.com/
that looks delicious!!!!
Does there need to be birthday or special occasion involved or can I just make this because I’m feeling special ;)
Looks soooo good!
omg im in love — March 13th, 2012 @ 11:01 pm
FUCK YA!!!!!!!
Very creative!
That’s insane! I bet she loved it! Makes my little cookies look pathetic http://dafoodieadventures.blogspot.com/
haha
wow, what an awesome idea! looks delicious.
Oh my gosh, that’s epic all right! Super creative and I have no doubt that it was super delicious too!
This is totally amazing! I love the idea and love the execution of it! It is making me seriously hungry, hope your friend totally loved it too!
LOVE this, I would just pass out if someone made me this for my birthday
WOW WOW WOW.
this is incredible. i can’t get over it. i neeeeed a good reason to make this :)
Well, that looks amazing!
that is one amazing smore!
My husband is a sucker for anything even remotely related to a s’more. I think I am going to have to make this for his birthday this weekend! I can’t wait because this looks SO good!!!!!
maybe instead of brownie chocolate icing?? to make it more like a s’more???
Epic indeed! Wish I had a friend that would bake me one……wanna another friend? :)
~ingrid
Oh my gosh. YUM! What a great idea.
http://cakearama.blogspot.com/2010/11/birthday-cakes-continued.html
Loved it…thanks for the inspiration!
Epic is truly the word for this dessert! I’m amazed by the creativity!
Just made this for my daughter’s 6 yr old camping birthday party! It looks just like the picture- if you don’t have a torch you can broil if you watch it carefully. Also we served it on tin-foil for a s’mores post fire look, and great for catching the oozing marshmallow. Kids loved it and it was actually really easy to make!
Loving the s’mores idea. Just made some s’mores cookies: http://theaddictedbaker.blogspot.com/2011/03/smore-cookies.html
I made this last weekend for a party… It was such a big hit! Thanks for the recipe.
http://bakingcures.blogspot.com/2011/04/giant-smores-cake.html
Made one yesterday for a Boy Scout event…..went over quite well….delicious! I didn’t have a kitchen torch so I used the broiler which worked out nicely.
That looks so good! I need to try this one! :)
My stepson turns 17 in October….he LOVES s’mores…..I will be making this for him! Thanks for posting!!!!
YUMMMY
Why do you make the cookie 13×9 when you have to cut it down to match the brownie’s size? This sounds like it would be a hit in any case.
Inkeeper Seely – the recipe for the cookies that I had was for a 13×9 pan and I also liked how using a bigger pan yields a thinner cookie. Since there are 2 layers of cookie, I didn’t want it to be overwhelmingly cookie!
Help! I’m baking this cake today–do I use light or dark brown sugar?
Erica — February 11th, 2012 @ 5:24 pm
Either will work, I think I used light but it doesn’t matter
I can’t wait to make this for my roommate for her birthday this weekend :)
So making this soon. S’mores are my all time favorite dessert. did you have any problems with the cake falling, as I have had that problem before with marshmallow in cake like substances.
Erica — February 29th, 2012 @ 1:15 pm
I didn’t have any trouble with my cake falling – it’s a sturdy cookie/cake so you should be fine. Good luck!
I’m going to try something similiar in a triffle glass bowl. Looks like a large glass cup on a stand. I think I will layer the graham crackers, then chocolatepudding then mix the marshmellow with some whip cream to cut down the stickiness. Strawberries on sale so another layer for color. That’s my dessert for a meeting on the 26th. YUM. Thanks for the idea.
oh how i love ur site!!!! keep up the good work i love everyone of ur recipes and going to try to make the S’more cake this weekend. all six kids are going to help! lol
What a great idea! My sister and I did a blog about your wonderful cake on our blog – http://joandsue.blogspot.ca/2012/06/giant-smore-cake.html – if you want to take a peek.
Thank you for sharing such a fun cake :)
My husband’s niece was looking for soemthing fun for a camping themed birthday party. I shared your reciped with her. It was a big hit and delicious too. Thanks for sharing.
Sounds amazing, I am going to make for my son’s birthday. What should I do if I don’t have a kitchen torch??Can I just put it on fire?? lol
Erica — July 4th, 2012 @ 5:20 pm
You can just put it under the broiler for a minute or so – just make sure you watch it carefully! Good luck :)
I made this for a friend’s birthday and it was a huge hit! My mom now requested one for her birthday too. I did use the broiler for the marshmallow and it came out perfect (but only took like 1-2 minutes to brown)
I really want to make this for my 4 year olds birthday, he loves s’mores! But help please! Can I make this ahead of time or does it need to be served immediately after torching? Also, has anyone ever tried chocolate fudge as a layer (like the ice cream topping)?
Erica — September 29th, 2012 @ 7:57 pm
Nope, it doesn’t need to be served immediately. You can definitely torch it a few hours or even the night before serving. Good luck!
I just finished a test-run of this cake as I plan to send one to my boyfriend who’s spending his birthday alone on base in Texas (I know a treat this yummy will ease the loneliness!) But when I baked my graham cookie it came out a little dry. I don’t have a stand mixer so I used my hand mixer and think maybe I over-mixed? Any other suggestions to moisten the cookie part?
Thanks so much for the equally imaginative and delicious recipes!
-Cali
I have a feeling that the over-mixing might have been the culprit. Just make sure to mix the flour in only until it JUST is incorporated. Sorry I don’t have any other suggestions, but I’m sure he’ll love it no matter what!!
This was one of the best and most unique cakes I have ever made! It was a huge hit at my cousin’s birthday party! I’m already sending people to your website for the recipe and planning to make it again in the summer! Thanks for this wonderful idea!!!
I almost forgot, I used chocolate marshmallow frosting to write my happy birthday message. With the extra cookie, I made cookie sandwiches with that icing. They were also amazing!
Does the above recipes make two cookie bars, one for top and one for bottom? So you would divide batter between two 9×13 pans?
Erica — August 24th, 2013 @ 11:40 pm
You’ll cut the 9×13″ cookie down to 8×8″ (with lots of yummy leftovers) and then cut the 8×8″ cookie in half horizontally so you get 2 equal layers that are just a bit thinner. I hope this makes sense!
Thank you so much for posting this!! We needed a camping theme cake for cubscouts and this was perfect!!
Thanks Erica! Big hit at my son’s birthday party today. I divided the graham dough into two 9×13 pans and made the brownies the same size. We also made one gigantic 9×13 homemade marshmallow so everything was the same size. Kids and adults loved it and took lots of pics.