Hershey’s chocolate gets a lot of bad raps, because (1) It doesn’t have much of a chocolate flavour, and (2) It’s got a bit of a cultured-milk flavour.
But hey! I’ve just realised it it’s the stuff that works for s’mores. Because (1) it doesn’t have a really strong flavour, and (2) The distinctive cheesecake flavour really contrasts and balances the other flavours.
I’ve tried to make s’mores with Cadbury chocolate, and it’s never really worked: they aren’t more-ish. I’d say that the effect was actually less-ish. The sweetness is just too strong, and the flavours are much too simple (and too bitter, if you use better chocolate). It’s like comparing a Barbie doll to a real woman: strange shape and kinda plastic.
Are you not in the US? Because the standard process uses a Hershey bar. My supermarket actually has a display with graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey bars all together just for the purpose.
I concur; while I like a lot of non-Hershey’s chocolate for eating out of hand, there’s something about Hershey’s chocolate that works right with smores in a way that other chocolates don’t.
My market has a display of packages that contain Hershey chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows in one package. Although I am not a fan of Hershey’s I guess it is right for 'smores.
As an aside when we returned after 15 months in Switzerland (and 12 of them down the road from a Lindt factory) and someone gave my 5 yo daughter a Hershey’s bar, she took one bite and spit it out, “This isn’t chocolate!” But she loves 'smores made with Hershey’s now (47 years later).
A lot of people diss American cheese too (which actual comes in both real cheese product and not-legally-cheese forms). But it’s great for melting on a burger. Things have their niche.
To save you the trouble, I’ve tried in the past. Dark chocolate doesn’t work well for smores. The melting point is too high. I suppose if you used thinly shaved the dark chocolate and didn’t use too much at once, you could make a serviceable smore. But it’s easier to use milk chocolate.
S’mores don’t work well for s’mores. There’s just no way to assemble them that gets all of the ingredients working right. The point of s’mores isn’t the food itself; it’s that when you’re eating them, you’re sitting around a campfire with a bunch of friends telling campfire stories and having fun. Everything tastes better in that context.
I agree (although if someone says they like something, it’s dickish to tell them they don’t), S’mores have no attraction for me personally.
Graham crackers are very dry. Marshmallows are tasty when melted over a fire, but still mostly dry and sticky. Mixing very dry with dry and sticky is not a winning combination, and while melted chocolate fixes a lot of things, it does not fix dry and sticky. IMO.
I’ll take my graham crackers with milk, my marshmallows direct from the stick, and my chocolate any other way,
My wife is kind of a chocolate snob. When we made s’mores with our kids a while back, I got Hershey’s for them and some high quality chocolate for her. She appreciated the thought but, after trying the expensive stuff, she informed me that Hershey’s was much better for s’mores.
Somebody (possibly on this board?) once said the trick with American cheese slices is to think of them not as cheese but as single-serving, just-add-heat packets of cheese sauce.
I think a lot of questionable foods have the occasional context or recipe where they can be a perfect fit.
In Melbourne actually.