Give Me S’more: A Gooey Test Kitchen Adventure
S’mores Test Day: From Classic Campfire to Marshmallow Stretch Pizza 🔥🍫
Some test days are about precision.
Some are about lighting.
And some… are about gooey, sticky, chocolate-covered joy.
This week in the studio, we dedicated a full test session to the ultimate comfort dessert: the s’more. But not just one version. We pushed flavor, texture, and motion — building four different variations and capturing everything from the perfect golden toast to an epic marshmallow stretch pull straight from the outdoor pizza oven.
The Classic (Because You Have To)
We started with the original:
Crisp graham crackers, silky chocolate squares, and perfectly caramelized marshmallows toasted to that golden-brown sweet spot.
There’s a reason this combination has lasted for generations. The snap of the cracker, the melt of the chocolate, the warm cloud-like center — it’s simple, nostalgic, and visually irresistible. We focused on capturing the “squish” moment — that gentle press where the marshmallow oozes into the chocolate. Pure magic.
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread + Strawberry Glow-Up 🍓
Next, we elevated the classic with a swipe of chocolate hazelnut spread and fresh strawberries.
The Chocolate Hazelnut Spread melts into the marshmallow while the strawberries add brightness and juiciness that cuts through the sweetness. Visually, the red berries against the toasted marshmallow created a gorgeous contrast — rustic but refined.
This version felt like campfire meets European café.
Peanut Butter Cup Power Move 🥜
Instead of a simple chocolate square, we tucked a peanut butter cup inside.
As the marshmallow melted, the peanut butter softened into a silky, sweet-salty center. The close-up shots of the chocolate collapsing into the marshmallow were decadent and dramatic — the kind of texture story that makes you lean in.
This one disappeared quickly after the shoot. For research purposes, of course.
The Brownie S’more Pizza (With the Stretch) 🔥
And then… we went big.
We built a brownie-based s’more pizza in the outdoor pizza oven using:
• Double chocolate brownies baked in a skillet and then turned out onto a pizza tray
• Chocolate hazelnut spread
• Mini marshmallows
• Chocolate Hershey’s pieces
• Graham cracker pieces
The high heat gave us crisp edges and a fudgy center, while the marshmallows toasted into glossy, golden peaks.
The hero moment?
That exquisite marshmallow stretch was even better than cheese!
We captured the slow pull in a stop motion — fluffy, elastic, and impossibly gooey. The kind of texture that turns a dessert into a visual experience. Stop motion allowed us to highlight every glossy strand as it stretched from slice to slice.
Why We Love Test Shoots Like This
Beyond the sugar rush (which is real), these test days allow us to experiment with:
• Melt behavior of various brands under different heat sources and levels
• Texture contrast in close-up macro
• Stop motion movement and food stretch
• The emotional storytelling of nostalgic food
S’mores may be simple, but visually they are dynamic — steam, stretch, melt, crunch, gloss. Every element gives us something to play with.
And yes… after we wrapped the hero shots, we may have let a few marshmallows catch fire and made ourselves some well-earned crew s’mores.
Because sometimes the best part of the test kitchen is tasting the results. 🔥🍫
