Fire and Ice

This isn’t for everyone. I love it though. It will send your senses into a tailspin of confusion. At first all you can taste is rich, smooth and cool chocolate, then the heat of the chili pepper hits you and it’s hard to understand how something so cold can set your mouth on fire. It’s a confused sorbet. I know how it feels. And so, to avoid my confused ramblings, here’s a poem by Robert Frost:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Mercedes of Desert Candy recently challenged herself to 20 days of 20 different ice cream flavours. You know I’m a sucker for ice cream so all of them looked amazing. A recipe for chocolate sorbet caught my eye for two reasons; the first being that it looked mouthwateringly good, the second being that at the end of the recipe she listed a few add ins that you could use for a change up. One of them was red pepper. A while ago I had a chili chocolate ice cream at an ice cream shop, (sacrilege! I know, but when they offer chili chocolate ice cream, I think it’s acceptable) and ever since then I’ve wanted to recreate it. I decided this chocolate sorbet was the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl, or a churn so to speak. Instead of the ½ tsp of red pepper that Mercedes suggests, I used two small chili peppers, (that I received from the wonderful Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict) which I seeded and finely diced. Check out Mercedes’ post for other flavour options and just to see her 20 different ice creams flavours.

Chocolate Sorbet (from Desert Candy)

2 1/3 cups water
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup good quality cocoa powder

2 small chili peppers, seeded and finely diced
3 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 T instant espresso powder (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Place the cocoa powder and sugar in a saucepan. Slowly add the water in a stream, whisking until there are no lumps. Add in the diced chili pepper. Place the pan on the heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. When it has come to a full boil, lower the heat slightly and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Remove from the heat and immediately add the chopped chocolate and espresso powder. Stir with a whisk until the chocolate is melted and combined (you can also put the mixture into a blender and blitz). Add the vanilla, cover, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled (at least 3 hours).
3. Give the mixture a good stir, then churn in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions. Store in the freezer.

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Ice Cream + Chocolate + Chili Pepper