Ice Cream Sundae with a Chile on Top

The Organic Aji Cereza chilies were my inspiration for the A Chile & A Spoon Challenge that Marx Food is sponsoring.  I loved that it looked like a cherry, I knew an ice cream sundae was in order.  The challenge, use at least one chile from the chile sampler in a dish that can be eaten with a spoon.

Chocolate is a great partner to chilies so I decided to add the chilies to my favorite chocolate recipes.  I love a hint of heat in my desserts, it leaves you with just enough sweet after a meal.   Salty sweet is another flavor combo I love too, leaves you licking you lips for more.  Put them all together and and you get a great end result.

Ice Cream Sundae with a Chile on Top

Flourless Chocolate Chile Cake with a scoop of chile chocolate ice cream, drizzled with a salted caramel sauce with chile with and an Organic Aji Cereza chile on top.  A dessert for all the senses!

Damn good, if I do say so myself.  The flavors work well together, and the heat in each component was not too overpowering.  The cake is creamy like fudge, the chocolate ice cream had the most kick of spice – it sat right on the back of the tongue.  The salted caramel sauce was so good I wanted to cry.  No seriously, I was like who can I call, people need to know how good this is.  Well I did call Jilly, she would totally appreciate what I was talking about, but I guess my address book is out of date since her wallet got stolen.  Anyway, I can’t believe I never knew how easy this sauce was to make until now!  The “cherry” on top is an eat at your own risk kind of garnish, I personally did not attempt.  The Organic Aji Cereza chile is a spicy one so I did not want to take my chances.

Here are all the recipes.  It may seem like a lot of work at first glance, but each recipe comes together quickly.  The best part, everything can be made in advance which makes it great for entertaining.

1 C. sugar
1/4 C. water
2 T. light corn syrup
3/4 C. heavy cream
1 Guajillo chile, dried

4 T. butter
1 t. gray sea salt

1. Roast chile in a hot pan, a few seconds each side.
2. In a small saucepan combine cream and chile (whole), heat to warm.
3. Remove from heat and leave chile to soak.
4. In a saucepan combine, sugar, water, and light corn syrup.
5. With a wet pastry brush, wipe down any crystals on side of pan.
6. Bring to boil over high, continue to boil until a deep amber color.
7. Swirl pan lightly to combine. Takes about 5-7 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in cream (minus chile), butter, and salt.
9. Stir until smooth sauce forms.  May clump for a bit, keep stirring.
10. Cool at room temperature.
11. Store in container with chile added in whole.
12. Stores in refrigerator.  Will last a few weeks, reheat to serve.

Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted from Joy of Baking

2 C. half-and-half
1/3 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
Pasilla Negro Chilies, toasted
2 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 t. pure vanilla extract

1. In a saucepan whisk together half-and-half and cocoa until combined.
2. Add chile whole and place pan over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
3. Add semisweet chocolate and stir until melted.
4. Cover and let seep for 10 minutes.
5. Blend mixture in a blender until chile is pureed.
6. In a stainless steel bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (about two minutes).
7. Gradually mix in the half-and-half mixture into the egg and sugar mixture, whisking constantly.
8. Once combined, place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring constantly, cook until the custard thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon (about 170° – 180°).
9. Immediately remove the custard from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
10. Cool mixture at room temperature and store overnight in refrigerator.
11. Use ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
12. Store in freezer in airtight container.

adapted from Simply Recipes

12 oz. of semisweet chocolate chips

8 T. butter, cut into pieces

5 large eggs

1 C. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. – 2 t. De Arbol Chile

Pinch of salt

1. Toast chile, a few seconds each side in hot skillet. Grind in spice grinder.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F, grease a 9 ½ inch springform pan.

3. Melt chocolate and butter over a double boiler, stirring often until combined.

4. Whisk together eggs and sugar.  Slowly whisk in the melted chocolate.

5. Stir in salt and chile, to taste.

6. Pour into pan and bake for 30 – 35 minutes.

7. Cool and sprinkle with cocoa powder or powdered sugar when serving.

Deliciouso!  The kids wanted to dig right in when I taking a picture.  They actually liked it all except the ice cream, too much heat for them.  Each recipe stands on it’s own for dessert too, with or without the chile.  The leftover caramel sauce was a delicious topping for the Thanksgiving caramel apple pie.

Is spice something you like in dessert or do you reserve it for the dinner table?

Voting is open no until December 5th, click here to vote!