a spin on shakes

A couple of days ago, I was listening to a Here on Earth podcast all about milkshakes. Jean Feraca was interviewing food writer Adam Ried, who's just written a cookbook devoted to none other than shakes. The podcast stuck with me, so I finally gave in and made a batch for dessert.

Several of Ried's concoctions sounded delicious, but one in particular caught my attention: a Mexican chocolate shake. This isn't the typical mixture you'd find at an old-fashioned soda fountain...it includes cayenne pepper, an ingredient that appears in the ancient Aztec chocolate recipes. Unfortunately, he didn't divulge any recipes on the show, so I had to figure it out. One tip he mentioned turned out to be the key: Instead of using chocolate syrup, he uses chocolate sorbet for its ultra-concentrated flavor. Here's what I came up with:

Mexican Chocolate Shake

(serves 1)

ingredients
1/3 cup vanilla sorbet
1/3 cup chocolate sorbet
2 Tbl. milk
Splash of vanilla
A few shakes of ground cinnamon
A tiny pinch of cayenne pepper

directions
1) Combine ingredients in glass and blend with an immersion blender (or combine in a blender jar), pulsing until smooth.
2) Enjoy.

They turned out pretty darned good. It won't become my all-time favorite, vanilla, but it was a great dessert after chipotle chicken fajitas!

Here's what I was thinking about a year ago: a few of my favorite things.