‘I tried the viral s’mores dip without an air fryer – and there was one major issue'

Social media, particularly TikTok, can make anything and anyone go viral, including recipes.

One of the most recent recipe to wow the folks on the internet is an innovative take on the classic American snack, s’mores.

Usually roasting them by a blazing campfire, the three-ingredient recipe has deconstructed and reconstructed into a dip, made enitrely in the the must-have gadget of the moment: an air fryer.

But I refuse to get an air fryer, so I recreated the viral recipe in my good ol’ oven.

So if you want to know how the viral recipe goes when made outside of an air fryer, this is the reality.

Autumn ushers in with a ton of bleak weather, colder temperatures and shorter, darker days, but it’s also the perfect time to get your chef’s hat on.

There’s a warm, fuzzy feeling bubbling up inside you as you take your culinary prize out of the oven.

Or, now, in many cases: the air fryer. The energy-saving appliance has tipped itself as the must-have gadget to have in your kitchen, the gadget du jour, if you will.

Quick and easy fakeaways, healthier alternatives to household faves, and inventive takes on classics can be, supposedly rustled up without a sweat.

I’ve not hopped on the air fryer bandwagon and I don’t plan to any time soon. It’s a ‘principle’ thing.

Most recently, a three-ingredient recipe for an air fryer s’mores dip has made the rounds on TikTok, promising toasty marshmallows and soft, delicate chocolate.

My teammate Nicola tested the recipe in her air fryer, if you want to know how her experience went.

Instead, I placed faith in my trusty oven and cast-iron skillet.

What could go wrong? Well, aesthetics, that’s what.

The recipe is easily replicable, even if graham crackers are tricky to hunt down in the UK.

Google suggested digestive biscuits as the British alternative, but scouring comment sections on TikTok revealed that – apparently – it’s a cardinal sin against the American campfire snack.

The closest alternative I can find are the Le Petit Beurre Biscuits, not too dissimilar from a buttery hybrid of a malted milk-Rich Tea biccy.

So grab a pack of those, a bar of dark chocolate (milk if you prefer), and a big bag of marshmallows.

Lining the bottom of my skillet with the marshmallows, I randomly dotted chunks of chocolate all over. Then place the skillet in the oven at 180℃ for ten to 15 minutes.

Hoping for a cosy, sweet dip reminiscent of Halloween and Bonfire night, I waited for the minutes to count down.

What I was presented with in reality was a cloud-looking sludge puddle, the chocolate mottling with the marshmallow ooze.

If TikTok is to be believed, the marshmallows should remain mostly intact with a toasty, golden brown skin like it had been near an open flame.

My dip looked like a disfigured Michelin man.

Not to be disheartened by its highly unappealing appearance, I tentatively poked into the dip, breaking my first biscuit as I attempted to create an aesthetically pleasing marshmallow pull.

The marshmallow became tough like Play-Doh and not the light and fluffy goodness I’d been led to believe it would be.

Mouthful upon mouthful was an explosion of sugar, so much so that there was a slight tingle of pain in my teeth.

There’s no toastiness, no campfire aroma floating through the air, but just a muddled, sickly sweet goo.

The viral recipe is just a sugar suckerpunch to the senses, which doesn’t quite tickle my fancy.

My experienced sweet tooth likes complexity, the s’mores dip needs a tang or sharpness to cut through the sugar assault.

If you like to be drowning in a gluttonous sugar bath, then this is something for you.

I’d recommend swapping the grill on in the oven to actually ‘toast’ the marshmallows for the full campfire effect.

What I’m more inspired and excited by is a ‘savoury s’more’ video, toasting mini soft cheeses – like brie or camembert – wedged in salty crackers. Now that’s an autumn treat if I ever did see one.