Whenever I would go to Handel’s Ice Cream, one of their flavors that I would get was Graham Central Station. Graham cracker ice cream with graham cracker bits and chocolate chunks. So like a reconfigured S’more, without the marshmallow. And trust me when I say this, I love S’mores. Back in high school, one way I came up with fun or creative flavor combinations for cupcakes(which were all the rage back in the early 2010’s when I was a high schooler) was through ice cream flavors. That is the probable reason as to why I enjoy making mint chip desserts, honestly. It was just an easy way to fall back on proven pairings, and go with something that may or may not have a lot of pre-existing components that I could pull inspirations from. In this case, with Graham Central Station, there was the creamy graham cracker ice cream, the graham cracker pieces that were kind of soaked into the ice cream like an icebox cake, and the crunchy chocolate bits that added a pleasant bitterness and much needed texture to keep everything from being too sweet or cloying. I wanted to highlight different textures of graham crackers, since there were both creamy and cakey bits in the ice cream, and contrasting that with crunchier textures of chocolate.

So for the components, we have a graham cracker chiffon, a graham cracker mousse that is sprinkled with dark chocolate pieces, decorative cream to coat the exterior of the cake with, a dusting of graham cracker powder, more of that cream on top, and dark chocolate shards for height and a little drama. The fun parts of this recipe, for me anyways, was crushing up the graham cracker into little bits, and using that in the chiffon cake, the mousse, and the exterior of the cake. It was very therapeutic to do that. I feel like the mousse is a perfect representation of the Graham Central Station ice cream flavor, having a similar texture with the creamy graham cracker against the crunchy chocolate, while the cakey graham cracker bits are represented in a literal cake made from that! The decorative cream was mostly there to be a glue for the exterior of the cake for more of the graham cracker crumbs, while also making sure that the cake doesn’t dry out over time. That and I love the color contrast of the cream against everything, since it is very S’mores-esque, which is always a nostalgic and welcomed sight! Overall, this recipe came together pretty quickly, and since the cake is not a layer cake, there is a lot less work together has to go into actively frosting and decorating it!

For the graham cracker chiffon:
2 eggs, separated
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp canola oil or brown butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup finely crushed graham cracker, plus more for baking
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt

In a bowl, whip the egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks. In another bowl, whip the egg yolks with canola oil/brown butter and vanilla until combined. Fold into the egg yolks the crushed graham cracker, flour, salt, and whipped egg whites to form your batter. Pour the batter onto a lined quarter sheet tray and spread into an even layer. Dust the top with graham cracker powder. Then bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Roll the cake up while it is still warm, and allow it to cool that way – this will make it easier to re-roll the cake with the filling inside.

For the graham cracker mousse:
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp gelatin powder + 1 tbsp cold water
2oz finely crushed graham crackers
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups heavy cream, whipped stiff
1/4 cup finely chopped chocolate

In a pot, melt the gelatin into the milk over low heat. Stir that into the graham crackers with salt and vanilla to form your mousse base. Allow the mixture to cool down before folding into that the heavy cream. Sprinkle in the chocolate as well.

For the decorative cream:
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp powdered sugar
a pinch of salt

Whip the heavy cream, sugar, and salt to stiff peaks.

For initial assembly:
Crushed graham crackers

Spread the mousse into the cake, and re-roll it into a scroll. Spread a layer of the cream around the exterior of the cake, and dust with the crushed graham crackers. Transfer the cake to the freezer for at least 50 minutes.

For the tempered chocolate:
3 tbsp dark chocolate
a pinch of salt

Par-melt the salt and 2/3 of the chocolate over a double boiler. Then take the chocolate off heat, and stir until the rest of the chocolate is melted in. Then stir into that the remaining chocolate. Pour the chocolate over parchment or acetate and spread into a thin layer. Freeze for 10 minutes, then break into smaller pieces.

For final assembly:
Pipe the remaining decorative cream on top of the cake, and garnish the top with the chocolate shards. Trim the ends to reveal the spiral pattern of the cake.