Yesterday, August 10th, was National S'mores Day. And you missed it, didn't you? Don't worry, it's not an official food holiday anyway: those require Congressional approval. It almost seems more appropriate to celebrate today–the day after the observed unofficial holiday–with due officiousness, and Nickel Diner's S'more cake.

Pastry chef Sharlena Fong engineered a s'more to rival the Kremlin: a sturdy base of homemade graham cracker crust, followed by alternating layers of moist devils food cake and thick dark chocolate ganache. They are a glorious upgrades to the brick-like graham and chocolate components of the traditional s'more, and yet, both literally and figuratively, not the icing on this cake. The icing is, well, the icing: Fong pipes spiky peaks of the lightest meringue on top of the chocolatey layers, then toasts it table-side–with a blowtorch.

Traditional s'mores with golden marshmallows over campfires are lovely. But to celebrate an unofficial holiday on a Tuesday in Los Angeles, I'll take the meringue and the blowtorch.

Nickel Diner: 524 South Main St., Los Angeles; (213) 623-8301.

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