Chef Jose Mier with Another State Fave
Montana is famous for wide open spaces which untimately means camping. And camping often means toasted mashmallows over an open fire. Of course to jazz things up you can’t just eat the marshmallows plain. You need to make them into America’s favorite campfire treat: S’mores.
Made up of marchmallows, chocolate and graham crackers, almost everyone knows about this rustic dessert and Montanans have taken it up a notch and put these flavors into an ice cream. Montana is not the only place you can get this flavor. It’s so popular that it’s commercially available. Many places from your grocer’s freezer to Ben and Jerry have their own versions of this frozen treat.
The recipes will vary but it always comes down to those three key ingredients. Some enterprising parlors will go a step further and cover the ice cream with a layer of marshmallow and then toast the marshmallow on top of the cone. This is similar to Baked Alaska and it’s well worth a try.
If you can’t get this in your store—sometimes the flavor is a seasonal one or limited edition—you can always make it yourself, which is something I recommend to anyone who love frozen desserts. There’s something about the act of creation that makes things taste even better than store bought. Plus, you have control over exactly what goes into your recipe.
The number of variations is endless and though we all grew up on the basic Hershey bar as one of those ingredients there’s nothing stopping you from substituting some dark chocolate or even a nut filled bar. Try a Heath bar as well for an extra toffee crunch.
The next time you’re in Big Sky country, stop at a parlor for a taste of Montana’s favorite ice cream.