*This post was created in partnership with Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker because I find chocolate and summer to be a natural pair. I’m partial to Scharffen Berger’s bittersweet varieties (although Ivy argues that milk chocolate is best) as they’re softly sweet, with a nice acidity and deep cocoa flavor, which works perfectly in these ice cream bars.

The air smells of the last of the lilacs and a briny sea scent that the gentle, nearly warm breeze carries in from the Sound below. The sun lights the streets until nearly 10 pm and we lose track of the time we once dictated by the tint of the sky outside. There’s baseball practice that hurries us through dinner and games on Saturdays where the boys litter the grass with salt-licked sunflower seed shells. It’s June. The time of year where summer teases us with the occasional scent of the neighbors firing up the bbq, the kids wandering out of their houses to play in the street after dinner, and the distant chimes of the ice cream truck. We’re counting down the last days of school.

We all overslept this morning. Again. I popped up out of bed, looked at my phone then ran around the house trying to induce the sense of urgency needed to get everyone off to school on time. They didn’t quite get it. And I’ll admit neither did I. It’s hard to encourage the kids to persevere through these last couple of weeks of school, to continue to try their best and push hard when all I want to do is stay in bed with the warmth of the sun on my face then linger outside in the evening until dark, light up the fire to roast marshmallows and eat off paper plates outside.

Their school clothes have holes in the knees and are fraying at the sleeves but I refuse to refresh them at this point. Their lunches are far less thought out than they were in September and I’m trusting them to be getting all their homework done because I feel the shift. The summer shift. I’m trying to set a good example and be their buoy and cheerleader as they try to finish strong. But I’m also pushing back bedtime and dreaming with them about our summer travels to Europe, camping trips and lazy sun-lit mornings and definitely not thinking about third grade math.

Summer, we’re ready for you. Signs of our summer eagerness show up in the kitchen where I toast a pan full of marshmallows under the broiler. Soft interiors and crisp and caramelized outsides that I fold into vanilla bean flecked ice cream. Layered between two soft homemade graham crackers and then dipped in bittersweet chocolate. I would have stopped there but Ivy suggested a few flakes of salt to finish them off. I’m not sure I’ve ever been more proud.

These ice cream bars are a sweet taste of summer, and as if we needed it, are getting us even more excited for warm evenings sitting by a dancing fire, tasting the sweetness of the chocolate with sticky marshmallow fingers. Only 14 more sleeps – but who’s counting?

*This post is sponsored by Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. As always, the words, photos and recipes are mine.

Scharffen Berger crafts the richest, most flavorful chocolate by sourcing the best cacao in the world, blending it in small batches, and gently processing it to maintain the subtle flavors in the beans.

Be sure to check out their website where you can find a wide variety of baking chocolate as well as bars that need nothing more than a little unwrapping.

Thanks so much for supporting that brands that help keep Not Without Salt running.

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream Sandwiches with Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate

Makes 1 1/2 dozen bars

I’ve gone ahead and included a recipe for homemade graham crackers, one that I’ve adapted from King Arthur Flour. It’s a lovely soft cinnamon scented cracker that works beautifully here but you know you more than welcome to use store bought graham crackers here too. I assure you, no one would complain.

1 cup Graham Flour or Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
1/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons whole milk

1 10 ounce bag of mini marshmallow

1 1/2 quarts vanilla ice cream

9.7 ounces (1 bar) Scharffen Berger 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate, finely chopped

1 tablespoon flavorless oil (you can use grapeseed, rice bran, coconut, canola, etc.)

For the graham crackers:

In a large bowl combine the graham flour, all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder.

In another bowl whisk together the egg, butter, honey and milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir with a spatula until just combined.

Shape the dough in a rough rectangle then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Roll out the dough to 1/4-inch thick using a bit of flour if it starts to get a bit sticky.

Cut the cookies into the desired shape (I like the size of a quarter of an actual graham cracker - it’s about 1-inch by 2 1/2-inches)  and prick each cookie with a fork to prevent them from puffing up too much.

Set them onto the sheet pans and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake until puffed and golden around the edges, about 15 minutes. For the purpose of using these crackers in an ice cream sandwich I like to keep them a bit softer so I take them out perhaps a bit sooner than you would for a more traditional graham cracker.

Let the cookies cool on the trays.

Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Assemble the ice cream bars:

Line the bottom and sides 9x13 baking dish with two alternating pieces of parchment paper so that there’s a bit of overhang on each side.

Soften the vanilla ice cream by letting it sit out of the freezer for 20 minutes or so.

Set your oven to broil and scatter the marshmallows in a shallow roasting dish. Broil until the caps are copper colored and you can smell caramelized sugar.

Fold the toasted marshmallows into the softened ice cream then add that to the prepared 9x13 dish. Smooth it out to create an even layer of what is now toasted marshmallow ice cream. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

Once completely firm remove the ice cream from the pan and cut it out to match the shape of the graham crackers. Sandwich a layer of ice cream between the graham crackers then place those on a sheet tray and return to the freezer until firm. If the ice cream melts too quickly in the process simply return it to the freezer for at least 20 minutes then continue.

Melt the chocolate with the oil in a microwave or over a double broiler. If using a microwave heat in 20 second intervals and stir really well between each heat so as not to scorch the chocolate.

Dip the ice cream bars halfway into the chocolate then return to the sheet pan and top with a few pieces of flake salt. Freeze again until firm and then you’re ready to enjoy.

It has been seven days since Roman entered the world. Seven days of recovery, rest, restlessness, craziness, confusion and complete joy.
If you had been following my Twitter at all you would know that I was done with pregnancy. I had had enough aches, plenty of restless nights, more than enough outbursts of uncontrollable sobbing, I was tired of being tired… I was just over it. So when my due date came and went I was willing to try anything and everything to encourage this baby to GET OUT!!
I ingested some horrible tasting tincture of Blue and Black Cohosh sold to me by a Doula at the Farmer’s Market. I ate pineapple, black licorice and enjoyed a glass of red wine. I even visited an Acupuncturist for some sort of electro-something procedure and did acupressure. (There were a few more things I tried but will keep this post G rated).

We had a date scheduled to be induced but was really hoping and praying that it would not come to that so when I woke up on Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. to some pretty intense contractions I was thrilled. I had never been so excited to be in pain. I grabbed Gabe’s iPhone, which had been our tool for timing all the other “false alarms”, and began to time them. I layed in bed just hoping that another contraction would come and sure enough like a faithful friend they kept coming back. I got out of bed and went to the couch and they were still there. They weren’t very regular but they were painful.
After timing the contractions for half an hour I thought I should let Gabe know what was happening. At first I was a little hesitant and didn’t want to alarm him. So I told him that I think we should start to get ready as we will probably need to go to the hospital soon. He didn’t even open his eyes. I asked if he heard me, “uh huh”. Again without opening his eyes. I let him sleep a little longer until I really knew that this was the real thing. I approached his side of the bed got down right to his face and said, “it’s time”. That got him.
If you ever been pregnant you probably had the perfect labor and delivery imagined in your head only to have it vanish when the reality takes the place of that dream. Well I can honestly say that this labor was exactly and at the same time more than what I could have imagined.

I felt plenty of pain which for me is gratifying and just part of being a woman and the process of giving birth. But I also felt the relief of pain with the wonderful modern invention of the epideral. Because of this numbing drug I was able to enjoy the actual birth of my baby as I was fully present and aware and could experience that joy without pain with the select few who were present in the room with Gabe and I. I was so eager to really experience Roman’s entrance into the world that I asked to have a mirror so I could see all that was happening. I apologize if this really grosses some of you out (believe me, my husband thinks I’m insane and had to have his back turned just so he could stay in the room) but it was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.

I won’t go into to much detail as again I am trying to keep this rated G but I will say that apparently I had the biggest smile on my face as I watched the very moment that my baby’s head exited my body and entered this world. I watched as each arm and leg made there way out and as soon as he was completely exposed I held him so tight and kissed his sweet little face and promised to love him for the rest of his life.
During both hospital stays with each delivery of my children I was very well taken care of by the wonderful nurses. A couple in particular were like angels to me as they satisfied an intense craving when they brought me graham crackers. I know, strange right? At no other time in my life do graham crackers taste as good as they do after I give birth. It’s my comfort food. They are sweet and satisfying and always remind me of many happy memories of either topping the tasty crackers with chocolate and fire toasted marshmallows or crumbling them up in a bowl and topping with milk like my dad taught me.

As I continue to recover from the latest birth and as the weather slowly creeps towards Summer temperatures my desire for these crispy crackers continues and even grows stronger. You can be sure that as I begin to bake again soon (once standing up for long periods of time is tolerable again) I will be making these graham crackers and smothering them in a hefty portion of Valrhona 70% chocolate and a toasty, gooey homemade vanilla bean marshmallow.

Graham Crackers
Adapted from French Laundry

8 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons honey
1 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
½ tsp vanilla (or ½ vanilla bean with seeds scraped)

Make graham crackers
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Cream the butter, sugars, and honey in a mixer on medium speed until soft and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Sift together the flours, salt, and baking soda, and pour into the mixing bowl. Mix on slow speed until just combined. Turn out the mixture onto a clean surface. Press the crumbly looking dough together with your hands until it just holds together.

Press the dough onto a 12 x 16-inch piece of parchment paper. Shape the dough into a rectangle and cover it with another 12 x 16-inch piece of parchment. Roll the dough out very thin by rolling from the middle of the paper outward. If the dough is difficult to roll, add a tiny bit of flour between the parchment and the dough on both sides. Transfer the dough onto a baking sheet, patching it to make an exact rectangle.

Bake the dough until the top is golden brown, slightly blistered, and dry-looking, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Use a fork to mark rows of holes, 1/4 inch apart, all over the dough.