We’re having some friends over on Friday for a Mexican-inspired dinner feast so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give this ice cream another shot. About a year ago, I attempted this spicy chocolate ice cream…and all was perfect except I’d misread teaspoon for tablespoon. So instead of putting in 2-3 tsp of chili powder, it was more like 2-3 tbs. What a difference a spoon size makes. Unfortunately, no one could bear the heat, so the ice cream went to waste.

This recipe was inspired from one in David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. I improvised a little along the way (adding more cocoa powder, chocolate, and used 2% milk instead of whole). That might explain the mousse-y/gelato-y texture that resulted.

Aztec Hot Chocolate Ice Cream
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
6 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
3 oz dark chocolate
1 1/4 cups 2% milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ancho chili powder
2 1/2 tbs cognac

Whisk together the cream, cocoa powder and sugar in a large saucepan. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently until it comes to a boil. It should start foaming up. Remove from heat and add the chocolate and whisk until it’s completely melted. Stir in the milk, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and cognac. The chili powder also goes into the mixture now and I recommend putting in a little bit at a time, making sure it doesn’t get too spicy for your liking. I also put in more chocolate and cocoa powder at this point.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in an ice bath or the refrigerator. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve and freeze in an ice cream maker.