Tuesday was my little brothers twenty-sixth birthday. Originally I was going to make him this cake , but then I started thinking about how we used to celebrate his birthday as kids.

Every summer my parents would rent a cottage in Vermont. My aunt and uncle also had a summer home right down the road, so our cousins were always around. My brother and our cousin Alex’s birthdays are less than a week apart, so one Saturday we would have a party for Alex and then the next we would have one for Richie. The formula was pretty much always the same, BBQ, followed by cake and hopefully some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream (it was Vermont after all). I have no recollection of what kind of cake we used to have at my brother’s birthday, but I decided instead of lemon ricotta cake he should have something cottage-y for his birthday. What came to mind immediately was s’mores. I’m pretty sure every time I’ve had a s’more was at the cottage with Richie, Alex and Janice (Janice and I also celebrate our birthdays within a couple of days of each other).

But s’mores on their own didn’t seem good enough. No, for my brother’s birthday there should be something more exciting than just a s’more; there should be s’mores in pie form. I didn’t even give him a choice.

I could have served this pie last Saturday when we actually had dinner with Alex and Janice, but I wasn’t thinking very clearly. So I waited till his actual birthday to serve the pie. I need to apologize to my cousins as this pie was soooo good. It was ooey gooey deliciousness. The marshmallows brought me right back to being a kid. Slicing the pie was a bit of an adventure, but s’mores are supposed to be messy and watching me struggle with it just added to the fun. There were marshmallow strings all over the place.

If you microwave any leftovers for 10 seconds the marshmallows get a little melty.

If you microwave them for 20 seconds they get a lot melty.

This recipe was adapted from Gourmet. Instead of making marshmallow fluff I just piled store-bought marshmallows on the pie.

S’more Pie

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 5 tbsp butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup cream
• 1 egg
• 1 bag large marshmallows

1. In a bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and salt.
2. Press graham cracker mixture into a 9 inch pie plate. Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
3. Once the crust is cooled, heat cream until just before boiling. Pour over chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Whisk in the egg.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the crust and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let cool completely.
5. Just before serving, pile marshmallows on top of the pie and broil till the marshmallows are at your desired golden or burnt level (keep a close eye on them, they’ll burn fast).

Enjoy!