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A frozen s’more, built like a layer cake and torched on top.
This is everything good about a s’more with the campfire swapped for a freezer. Graham crust on the bottom and the top, a thin layer of chocolate between, and vanilla custard ice cream in the middle instead of a melting marshmallow. Then the whole thing gets topped with meringue and torched until the peaks go dark, like a marshmallow held over a fire. The edible flowers go on at the very end.
Everything here is homemade and worth it, but the cake doesn’t all have to be made from scratch in one go. Every component has a store-bought swap that still works – the crust, the ice cream, even the meringue (jarred marshmallow fluff torches just fine). Pick what you want to make yourself and grab the rest.
Table of Contents
The Graham Cracker Crust
There are two crusts here, not one. A pressed graham base on the bottom and a second layer over the ice cream before the meringue goes on, graham on both ends, like a true s’more. And you’re in luck because it’s the same mixture for both, 2/3 on the bottom and 1/3 reserved for the top.
Crush the graham crackers fine. A food processor handles it quickly, and you can pulse the crackers, butter, and sugar all together in one go. If you don’t have a processor, that’s okay. Crush the crackers in a zip-top bag with a rolling pin, then stir in the butter and sugar by hand. Either way, the result should be a fine graham cracker crumble with as few chunks as possible. This makes a difference, big chunks are where the crust splits when you cut into it. Fine crumbs hold together and slice cleaner.
The butter for a pie crust isn’t a measure with your heart area. Use what the recipe says. Too little and the crust won’t hold, it falls apart in crumbs. Too much and it sets hard, dense enough to fight your fork. This is the rare spot where a little extra doesn’t help you, it works against you. Measure it.
Press it firm, but don’t pack it like concrete. You want it compact enough to hold together and no tighter, or it sets into a slab in the freezer. Firm hand, then stop.
The Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
The base is a custard, cooked on the stove before it churns. Warm the milk, cream, and condensed milk until hot but not steaming.
Whisk the yolks in a separate bowl with the sugar and vanilla. Temper them by pouring in about a cup of the hot milk while whisking hard, then add it all back to the pot. Pour it in slow and whisk the whole time, or the yolks scramble.
Cook low, stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, 175 to 180°F. No hotter, it curdles past that. Strain it. Then it chills, 4 hours or overnight, before churning.
No Ice Cream Maker: Freeze the chilled custard in a shallow metal pan, stirring hard with a fork or hand mixer every 30 minutes for a few hours until thick and smooth.
The Meringue
A lot of people are intimidated by meringue. But here’s something that makes this less scary: meringue is basically homemade marshmallow fluff. Egg whites and sugar, whipped into the same sweet, sticky cloud. If you know what makes it go wrong and how to fix it, you will master this one in no time.
For this recipe we are making an Italian meringue, which means hot sugar syrup gets poured into whipped egg whites. The heat from the syrup cooks the whites as it goes in, so it’s safe to eat without baking. Italian is the most stable of the meringues, so it holds those sculpted peaks once it’s piped onto the cake.
Set up before you start: Wipe the mixer bowl and whisk with vinegar or lemon juice. Any fat at all and the meringue won’t lift, the whites stay liquid and won’t whip up. Use a stainless steel or glass bowl, plastic holds onto grease no matter how clean it looks. Same goes for the eggs, even a speck of yolk in the whites kills it, so separate them carefully one at a time into a small bowl first, then transfer. Room-temperature whites whip faster and to more volume than cold, so pull the eggs out an hour ahead.
Cook the syrup: Sugar and water go into a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, but the second it starts to simmer, stop touching it. Stirring after it simmers causes the sugar to crystallize and you’ll get gritty meringue. Just let it climb.
Whip the whites: When the syrup hits 230°F, start the mixer on high and whip the whites to stiff peaks. The timing matters, you want the whites at stiff peaks right as the syrup hits 240°F so you can pour straight in. If the whites get there too early, drop the mixer to low to hold them.
Pour the syrup: At 240°F, pull the syrup off the heat and let it rest two minutes. With the mixer running, slowly pour the syrup into the whites in a thin steady stream down the side of the bowl, not onto the whisk. Hitting the whisk sends syrup flying around the bowl and you lose half of it to the sides. Pour slow but steady, the stream should be about pencil thick. Keep whipping 3 to 4 minutes after the last of the syrup goes in, until it’s stiff.
Decorate and torch: Pipe with a large star tip (a #200 works, flat on one side with ridges) and decorate in waves over the top of the cake. Then a quick torch before serving until the peaks go dark. It has to be a torch, not the broiler, the broiler melts the ice cream before the meringue browns.
Timing: Italian meringue holds for hours once made, so you have a real window, you don’t have to race it onto the cake. But it goes on the day you serve, not before, it weeps if it sits on a frozen cake more than a day or two.
The Swaps
Every homemade piece here has a store-bought version that gets you to the same cake. Pick what you want to make from scratch and grab the rest.
The Crust: Skip the food processor and use a bag of store-bought graham cracker crumbs. Mix with butter and sugar the same way. You can use a pre-made crust but you’ll only get a bottom crust, not graham on both ends like a real s’more, and you may have to adjust ingredient amounts to fit.
The Ice Cream: Use a tub of good vanilla. Soften it on the counter until it’s spreadable, then use it in place of the custard. If you want the chocolate swirl, stir in a spoonful of fudge sauce or melted chocolate before spreading.
The Chocolate Ganache: A jar of chocolate sauce or hot fudge works in place of the ganache. Warm it slightly so it pours, and use it the same way.
The Meringue: Jarred marshmallow fluff. Spoon or pipe it on the same way, torch it the same way. It tastes like exactly what it is.
S’mores Ice Cream Cake Timeline
This recipe needs to be started well ahead, but most of that is because it needs time in the freezer between steps. The ice cream can be started well ahead if needed. The crust and assembly come closer to serving, so the graham stays firm.
Up to 1 week ahead: Make and churn the ice cream. Pack it into an airtight container and freeze. On its own, away from the crust, it keeps for a week without losing texture.
1 to 2 days before serving: Make the crust, set the ganache, soften the ice cream just enough to spread, and assemble. Freeze the whole cake solid overnight.
The day you serve: Make the meringue, pipe it on, and torch it. After the fire, then add the edible flowers. The meringue always goes on day-of, it weeps if it sits on the frozen cake more than a day or two.
How to Serve
This is a hot-weather dessert, so build a hot-weather meal around it. Start with a Frozen Strawberry Margarita, blended, tart, and cold, the right way to open a summer spread. Put out Grilled Apricots with Honey Glaze and Cheese Rosettes to start, charred fruit and cheese while everyone has a drink in hand. For the main, my Fall Off the Bone Ribs come out of the oven tender with a caramelized BBQ crust, and Buffalo Corn Ribs on the side keep it spicy and easy. Then the cake, cold and torched, to end the night.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Any home ice cream maker works, the standard frozen-bowl kind (like a Cuisinart) is what most people have and what this recipe is written for. A Ninja Creami works too, you’d freeze the base solid first and then spin it. Series Eats has a whole page on ice cream makers that they’ve tested.
If you don’t have a machine at all you can still do it, it’s just more work. There is a no-machine note in the recipe covers what to do.
Yes, swap the graham crackers for a gluten-free brand and the rest of the recipe is naturally gluten-free. Look for ones that are similar in dryness to regular graham crackers so the crust holds together the same way.
The ice cream up to a week ahead in an airtight container. The built cake (everything but the meringue) up to a week in the freezer, wrapped tight. The meringue is the day-of part. So a week out is the real ceiling, day before is the easiest.
Once cut, wrap the cake tightly in plastic and freeze. It keeps a few days but the meringue starts to weep and the cut sides get crusty, so the first day or two after cutting is the best window.
Equipment
- Medium heavy-bottomed saucepan
- fine mesh strainer
- Ice cream maker, (optional: see No Ice Cream Maker note)
- parchment paper
- 7-inch springform pan
- Offset spatula
- small saucepan
- Stand Mixer
- Piping bag with large tip (optional)
- kitchen torch
Ingredients
Vanilla Ice Cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup chocolate ganache, optional (reserved from below)
Graham Crust (top and bottom)
- 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, about 20 full sheets
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
Chocolate Ganache
- 4 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Italian Meringue
- 3 large egg whites
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup water
Toppings
- edible flowers, to your liking
Instructions
- Make the Ice Cream: Combine the milk, heavy cream, a pinch of salt and sweetened condensed milk in a saucepan. Heat over medium until hot but not steaming. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and vanilla. Whisking constantly, slowly add about 1 cup hot milk to the yolks, then return everything to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, until thickened and 175-180°F (80-82°C). Strain into a bowl and chill over an ice bath. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, then churn in an ice cream maker to soft-serve consistency.1 cup whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream, 1 pinch salt, 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk, 6 large egg yolks, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Make the Crust: Pulse the graham crackers, melted butter, and sugar in a food processor until evenly combined. Add parchment paper to the bottom of your pan. Press 2/3rds of the mixture firmly into the bottom of a 7-inch springform pan. Reserve the other 1/3 for the top.2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, 8 tbsp unsalted butter, 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- Make the Ganache: Heat the heavy cream until steaming. Pour over the chopped chocolate. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth.4 oz semisweet chocolate, 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Assemble: Reserve about 1/4 cup of the ganache and keep covered. Pour the rest on top of the crust, spreading it out into an even layer. Freeze about 25 minutes, until fully set. Add the reserved 1/4 cup of the ganache to the ice cream and mix it in a little. Spread that evenly over the set ganache and return to the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until the ice cream is set. Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture over the ice cream and press gently until pressed flat. Cover and freeze at least 8 hours or overnight.1/4 cup chocolate ganache
- Make the Italian Meringue: Add the egg whites, a pinch of salt, cream of tartar, and lemon juice to a clean stand mixer bowl. Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Once it begins to simmer, stop stirring. When the syrup reaches 230°F (110°C), turn the mixer on high and whip the whites to stiff peaks. When the syrup reaches 240°F (116°C), remove from the heat and let rest 2 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly pour the syrup into the whites. Continue whipping 3 to 4 minutes, until stiff.3 large egg whites, 1 pinch salt, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, 1/4 tsp lemon juice, 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2/3 cup water
- Finish: Release the springform and set the cake on a serving plate. With a #200 or similar piping top, pipe the meringue in a wave pattern around the ice cream cake. Toast with a kitchen torch until golden. Top with edible flowers. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.edible flowers
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
