I had the urge to melt some chocolate to pour over the double chocolate cookies I made.
I call it Tongues of Fire because of a single ingredient. It is also the perfect title for a Valentine’s Day treat.
The food experience for a lot of people is more complex than they probably realize. Most people eat with their eyes as well as their nose and mouth. A good looking, great smelling meal helps with the experience but bad ingredients can screw it all up for me. When you use great ingredients in your food you will enjoy the experience so much more. Tongues of Fire contains two fabulous ingredients.
Now, I have been obsessed lately with Frank’s Hot Sauce and thus have been pouring it over just about anything. I love Frank’s since it only has a couple of ingredients and it uses aged cayenne peppers. Don’t panic, I did not use Frank’s in this recipe but it was the inspiration for using cayenne pepper. If you research cayenne you will find that it has a boat load of potential health benefits and I try to incorporate super foods in anything I make and anything I eat. Cayenne is a super food as far as I am concerned. Franks is one of the easiest ways to consume cayenne. I use cayenne powder which is available in any spice section.
Another super food is cacao. High cacao content high price chocolate is one of the hottest trends in the candy bar world. This is driven by the high antioxidant content in cacao and the potential health benefits. This is a great example of a great ingredient creating a great food experience. I used a Ghirardelli 60% cacao candy bar.
RECIPE:
- 1 high cacao content premium chocolate bar.
- ¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper. (more or less to taste)
TECHNIQUE:
Melting chocolate could not be simpler but here is what I do just in case you need a tip:
I use a home made double boiler set up using a small sauce pan with a small amount of water over low heat and a thick stoneware bowl inserted in the pot. The simmering water gently warms the stoneware. The stoneware heats and cools slowly so you can more easily control the temperature. This is what I do but you can use a stainless steel bowl or a ceramic cereal bowl in place of stoneware. A lot of things will work.
Add most of the cayenne pepper powder once the chocolate is melted and thoroughly mixed.
Taste the chocolate to measure the heat. The heat comes at the end so take a second to judge. Add the remaining cayenne if you need it. If you are nervous about the heat, melt ½ of the bar and add cayenne by the pinch to get it where you want it.
Dip strawberries, cookies, animal crackers, or even salty pretzels in the chocolate. Salt and chocolate mix well so pretzels work great. Set aside to harden. The fridge makes it go a lot quicker.
Use toothpicks or skewers for strawberries.
