I’m sure I’m not the only one to say this but, my family loves S’mores. We have a large fire pit in our back yard and, when my girls were little, we’d roast marshmallows and assemble big sticky sandwiches with lot’s of chocolate and graham crackers almost weekly. It became somewhat of a tradition in our family and we especially loved it when our neighbors would drop by and the adults could share a glass of wine while the kids got increasingly more sticky and sugared up.

But, times change and with my daughters being all grown up, the fire pit hasn’t been lit in a long time. Although I miss this tradition, it’s hard to get motivated to go outside in the summer heat and sit around a fire that needs, what seems to be constant, tending without a child urging you to do just that.

That’s where this cake from Zoe Francois comes in and believe me when I tell you it delivers on all the things that you (and I) love about s’mores without the heat, bugs or mess of the great outdoors. You don’t even have to turn your oven on.

Just layer store bought graham crackers with homemade caramel cream,

cover it with a layer of chocolate ganache,

a sprinkle of salted peanuts for crunch and extra texture and then top it off with a layer of toasted meringue.

Ok, so you do have to torch the meringue but that’s fun. Right? At least my husband thought so when I asked him to do it.

Full disclosure, this one does take a bit of planning and there are several steps involved but it’s so incredibly worth it. And, if you’re like me and love trying out different baking techniques, this recipe has you covered with easy to follow directions every step of the way.

The steps can easily be broken down over the course of a couple of days while the cake naps away in your refrigerator. And, because your refrigerator does a good chunk of the work you’ll be left with plenty of time in between the steps to go for a walk, or read a book or come up with a dramatic story for your family and friends about how you slaved away in the kitchen making homemade caramel, chocolate ganache and Swiss meringue just so that you could create this amazing dessert for them.

This recipe truly doesn’t disappoint and, although I didn’t pay much attention to Zoe’s warning about the fact that a huge amount of meringue is used to get the dramatic effect in her photos, she was absolutely right. You can easily cut this part of the recipe in half and still have plenty of meringue for the topping. And, although the meringue is fluffiest on the first day, the cake does store well in the fridge for a few days which means that you’ll have plenty of time to eat any leftovers, that is, if you happen to have any.

I hope that you decide to give this S’mores Icebox Cake recipe a whirl. If you do, please let me know what you think or tag me on Instagram. I always love hearing from everyone and seeing pictures of anything that you make. And above all, thank you so much for stopping by.