Mayan Hot Chocolate Recipe

Mayan Hot Chocolate Recipe

For those who have seen the romantic movie “CHOCOLAT” with French actress Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp…. have you ever wondered what Vianne’s (Julliette Binoche) Mayan chocolate recipes, (esp. her hot chocolate) actually tastes like? Having viewed the film several times, it astounds me how the director got each actor/tress to enact the tasting of Vianne’s chocolate “Birthday feast” for Armande Voizin (Judy Dench), with such sensual precision. Or was the chocolate sauce really that sensual and that good? It enhanced our family’s curiosity as an audience, hence the pursuit for the recipe. Once found, my husband put together the ingredients for the Mayan hot chocolate, (which calls for chili peppers). May I conclude, that along with candlelight and an after dinner glass of red wine, this makes for an extremely romantic and decadent dessert. The sensual reactions of the actor/tress in this movie is not an exaggeration.

Here is the recipe, …. enjoy:

Ingredients:

1 fresh chili pepper, cut in half, seeds removed

2 cups water

5 cups milk or half-and-half

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 to 2 cinnamon sticks

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate or 3 Mexican chocolate, cut into 1/4 in. pieces

2 tablespoons sugar or honey or to taste

1 tablespoon almonds or hazelnuts, finely ground

Preparation:

Add chili pepper and water to small saucepan; heat to boil. Cook until liquid is reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Strain out chili pepper and any stray seeds. Set liquid aside.

Combine milk, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick in medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until bubbles appear around edge of pan. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate and sugar; whisk occasionally until chocolate is melted and sugar dissolved, about 5 minutes.

Turn off heat; remove vanilla bean and cinnamon stick. Stir in ground almonds. Add chili pepper liquid a little at a time until desired flavour and heat is reached. If chocolate is too thick, thin with a little more milk.