Sticky Sweet S'mores Bars...

Sticky Sweet S'mores Bars

Pan-baked S'mores

What’s the one unique treat that conjures up all your best memories about camp and camping? Just the mere mention of S’mores, or any of its ingredients, recalls a great time in the great outdoors. Forget about the poison ivy, the hard mattress, the bee stings, the long hikes, the Snipe hunts. Toasting S’mores over a crackling fire, then biting into this combo of sweet creaminess and crunch erased all the bad memories, and soothed your aching feet and back.



With staying power stronger than its predecessors, the Mallomar or Moon Pie, S’mores, were enjoyed as early as 1927 – by Girl Scouts no less – as mentioned in their handbook,
“Tramping and Trailing.”



Sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker, a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate melt into a gooey mix that won’t be found in any other confection. There are always modifications or suggestions for improvement – add peanut butter, use a cookie, chocolate chips or even nuts - but the original is still the best.



Until now. Did you know that you could microwave S'mores? Have you ever put one in your toaster oven? Better still, are you aware that it's possible to capture their flavor and texture in a bar?



Try these easy peasy recipes and you'll be amazed and have a couple dozen S'mores to share, without a campfire, long before National S'mores Day on August 10th.   

When was the last time you made whoopie...

It sounds like a question from a bad game show, but when was the last time you made whoopie... pie?

Home-baked Whoopie Pies are an American tradition.

This was an obviously fun shoot.  Bad jokes and puns were flying across the studio.  But while we were having fun, we also had a somewhat difficult subject.  The combination of very dark chocolate pastry sandwiching a very white filling created a challenge.  The contrast between the two had to be brought closer together.  We firmly believe that being able to do a project like this 'in camera' is an art form. The term, 'in camera' dates back, and people may not know what we mean.  Doing a shot 'in camera' means no Photoshop!

We do have a practical side as well.  Technology is progressing, with the intent of making our lives easier.  Photoshop allows us to do some amazing things and saves us a lot of time. So we mixed the art form of shooting 'in camera' and the technology of Photoshop to help us finish this shot.

We used a soft light source from above. This gave us a starting point to control the contrast.  We then brought in a point light source, from directly behind the subject, to produce the highlights on the chocolate pastry.  This light was just blowing out the cream filling.  So we took a separate photo with the same light dialed down, so the filling was properly exposed.  The two photos were later merged in Photoshop

We also used a white card to reflect some of the point light source (from the rear) back onto the front of the shot.
 
Okay, so the story goes that as far back as the 1930s, Whoopie Pies, also known as ‘gobs,’ were made in New England, and when farmers or their kids found them in their lunch boxes, they yelled “Whoopie!” Supposedly, they were made with leftover cake batter, but who ever heard of leftover cake batter?

The real Whoopie Pie is a delicious dessert sandwich, about the size of a hamburger, made with two soft cookies and a cream filling. Today, if you want to make one, it’s just a matter of combining ready-made ingredients and baking. Or use your preferred chocolate cake recipe.

Easy Peasy Whoopie Pie Recipe