Your S’mores Are Missing These 2 Ingredients: Sesame & Miso

Few desserts are as universally loved as a toasted marshmallow — golden brown outside, gooey inside — layered between graham crackers and melted chocolate.

Fans have long customized s’mores with everything from peanut butter cups to cinnamon graham crackers.

Chef Kierin Baldwin took the idea further, creating three versions with distinct flavor profiles: Sesame-Miso, Cinnamon Toast and Brooklyn Blackout.

“To create my own version of the traditional s’more, I started by rethinking its three core elements — the cookie, chocolate and marshmallow,” Chef Kierin says. 

“I drew inspiration from classic flavor pairings, desserts that incorporate chocolate and combinations I personally love. The Sesame-Miso S’more, for example, was inspired by a tahini chocolate chip cookie.”

The Sesame-Miso S’more combines sesame cookies, milk chocolate and miso marshmallows. The Brooklyn Blackout leans fully into chocolate with chocolate cookies, chocolate marshmallows and dark chocolate. 

Inspired by cinnamon toast cereal, the third version features griddled buttered bread, caramelized white chocolate and cinnamon marshmallows.

Chef Kierin began working with marshmallows while making pastries in New York City restaurants. At The Dutch, for example, flavored marshmallows appeared in petit fours and cookie plate presentations.

The Marshmallow Method

“There are several ways to flavor marshmallows,” Chef Kierin says. “Dry ingredients, like spices, can usually be added without significantly changing the recipe.”

For subtle flavor additions, small amounts of liquid ingredients — such as vanilla extract — generally work without adjustment. Another option is replacing some or all of the gelatin bloom water with juice or fruit purée.

“You may need to adjust the gelatin depending on the liquid used,” Chef Kierin says.

Alcohol and some tropical fruits can inhibit gelling, so those ingredients may require additional recipe adjustments. Chef Kierin also recommends caution when working with high-fat ingredients.

“Fat can interfere with the marshmallow’s ability to whip properly,” she says. “For ingredients with small amounts of fat, like cocoa powder, you can compensate with additional gelatin. Higher-fat ingredients may require adjusting the quantity used or incorporating them differently, such as swirling them in rather than fully mixing them.”

Homemade s’mores are endlessly customizable. Some experimentation may be required to perfect the marshmallows, but testing and refining recipes is part of the pastry process.

The recipe for Chef Kierin’s Sesame-Miso S’mores is below.

🍫Explore techniques like marshmallow-making, chocolate work and plated desserts in the Institute’s Pastry & Baking Arts programs in New York, Los Angeles and online.