A trip to Las Vegas inspired a local food truck.
Amanda Carper has been a stay-at-home mom for most of her adult life. As her children grew, was searching for something to do, but didn’t want a traditional 8-5 job.
“We were on a date one night and wanting dessert and were talking about how the main dessert you can get is ice cream. We go to Vegas yearly and eat these giant s’mores. I made the joke we should make a s’mores food truck and we did,” she said.
Amanda and husband Fred opened S’more-ish Killer Desserts in October 2023.
These are not traditional campfire treats.
First, they are served up in 5-inch pie plates and layered.
Click to find Smore-ish on Facebook.
“S’mores are always messy, and I thought if you are at a wedding you don’t want to get messy, so we layered them,” she said.
There are eight flavors on the menu, inspired by their family of eight. Married 29 years, the couple has six children.
There are original and then best-selling flavors like strawberry Nutella for their youngest daughter who could eat one every day. They use organic strawberry preserves instead of fresh berries because of the inconsistency of fresh strawberries.
Then, there’s a Reese’s cup for the Reese’s lovers and that is one of the top sellers. The marriage of melted peanut butter and chocolate crowned with pillows of melted marshmallows. Come on, it’s no surprise that it is a top seller.
If that doesn’t strike your fancy, how about melted white chocolate and raspberry preserves sandwiched between graham crackers and gooey marshmallows?
Carper enjoys experimenting with flavors
Oreo lovers should order the cookies and cream. You can get peanut butter, white chocolate, dark chocolate, you get the picture.
“I recently made a cookie butter one and my husband loved it,” Amanda Carper said. “It’s been so much fun coming up with flavors.”
There are seasonal options like the white chocolate cranberry, which was really popular during winter.
Carper makes the marshmallows from scratch, which became a necessity as she dabbled with building the bowls.
“You can’t torch mini marshmallows, they catch on fire, and you can’t blow out someone else’s s’more,” she said.
Carper experimented with different recipes until she found the perfect marshmallow that gets toasty on the outside, but the interior turns into a cloud of soft cream when it melts.
They make toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches dipped in cinnamon sugar for people who don’t like s’mores (do such people exist?).
They also have options for people who can’t do gluten.
“We have gluten-free graham crackers and Oreos. My daughter is gluten free and finding dessert for her is very difficult when we go out, so I wanted to offer something gluten free,” she said.
Their inspiration for the bowls came from a place outside of the New York New York hotel in Vegas that makes these “humongous s’mores.” The Carpers always get one or two while they are there. What makes them so unique is the size, she said.
The s’mores on their food truck are rich, big enough to share but Carper says most people want their own because they want to try different flavors.
People’s most common reaction?
“’Wow, that is good,’” Carper said. “It’s rich though.”
S'more-ish is a part-time gig
Fred has his own IT business and Amanda stayed home raising and homeschooling her kids. They range in age from 11 to 27.
This is not their first business. About a decade ago, the Carpers bought Springfield’s RSVPaint LLC, a paint-and-sip studio downtown — but sold it before the pandemic. Amanda Carper was mostly involved in the back end of the business.
She is very crafty and has refurbished dining room tables, decorated wedding cakes and a variety of artsy endeavors.
The truck is a part time gig. They don’t have specific hours or set up at the same place. They do popups, weddings, festivals, church events and such. Macadoodles in Republic allows her to set up in their parking lot.
Carper says she sprinkles in events because she still has kids at home and is still devoted to caring for her family. The fun part has been working together as a family. At some gigs, her kids are able to help out and work alongside her.
“I am trying to balance that with family,” she said. “It’s a busy life.”
Getting more comfortable with customers
Even though she has had other businesses, Carper has never done anything quite like this and says it has been a good learning experience.
The biggest challenge for her was learning how to drive the trailer and hook it up.
She is not used to being customer facing so that has boosted her confidence as she is more comfortable working with customers. She has learned not to panic when she pulls into an event and the generator won't start.
Their unique mascot is their Doberman pinscher, on the side of the truck (they own two). Even though these dogs can look menacing, they are teddy bears and so they wanted to include the family pet since everyone in the family is represented in the s’more department.
A lot of customers ask about the significance of the Doberman on their truck.
“We tell them nothing. We just think they are awesome,” she said.
So far, Carper is having a great time and they are off to a good start. They won the People’s Choice award in the chocolate category at the 11th Midwest Regional Beer Wine Cheese and Chocolate Festival at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds.
It was an undertaking to create that many samples, but worth it.
“It is fun to see people get excited about a dessert,” Carper said. “Meeting all the other food truck owners has been great. They are the nicest people. They are always willing to help you out. We aren’t doing anything overly complicated, but we are offering a gooey dessert.”
