Growing up watching black-and-white movies sitting next to Mamma Barbieri was a simple, sweet pleasure. A great deal of the films would be American and, as my mum had worked for Americans when she first came to the UK as an au pair (one of her charges used to have playdates with Lauren Bacall’s son; for years I didn’t realise this as she called Lauren ‘Betty’. And Betty would come to tea at the house my mum worked at, and my mum would make her cakes) everything US felt glamorous and different.
Later, when I started to bake, American recipes felt a world apart with their cup measurements and elusive ingredients. One such ingredient I’ve still not sampled is the graham cracker. No s’more is really a s’more without one.
When a friend gave me some DesBarres chocolate the first thing I did was look on its website. There, tauntingly, were packets of ready-made Triple Chocolate S’mores: chocolate graham crackers, 72% cocoa chocolate and chocolate marshmallows ($12 for four if you’re over that way, and that way is actually Canada not the US). But that’s not what I got. What I got was a very delicious twin bar of Kilombero, 88% Tanzanian cocoa, organic, two-ingredient, award-winning chocolate ($6.95).
Each twin weighs just 30g, so even if you scoffed a whole half, you’d be doing OK. But you don’t need to. It’s so tasty – a delicate balancing act of caramel and fruity notes. I felt completely spoiled breaking off one perfect piece. But if you find yourself near Ontario and fancy buying me the s’mores…
