These sweet and spicy Raspberry Ice Cream Sundaes are crazy good! Not only is the dessert great, but you could win a cookbook too! Intrigued? Keep reading!
Can you believe Melissa’s Produce sent me this gorgeous book, along with different types of chile peppers, Hot Hatch Salsa and Hatch Chile powder? Wow! I had a great time digging through this beautiful cookbook and experimenting with recipes inside! Bet you can’t guess what I made first?
The cookbook contains pictures of 38 different fresh and dried chile peppers. There is a beautiful photographic explanation of each pepper, where it ranks on the Scoville Scale (that’s the scale that measures the “heat” of chile peppers), what season the peppers are grown in, any other names a pepper goes by (Anaheim Peppers are also called New Mexico or Colorado Peppers) and equally beautiful photographic explanations of how to prepare them! There are 227 pages of recipes covering everything from appetizers, snacks, drinks, soups, salads, main dishes, side dishes and even desserts!
The first chapter I explored, was desserts! (It’s ok, you don’t even have to pretend to be surprised.) There were a lot of delicious looking recipes! Ice Cream, Sorbet, Churros, Cream Puffs, and even a Spiced Chocolate Banana Cream Pie! The recipe that caught my eye though? These Raspberry Ice Cream Sundaes with a gorgeous Chocolate Chile Bark! Composed of an orange, chile chocolate bark and a spicy red raspberry sauce to go over purchased vanilla ice cream! It’s a simple and quick, perfect weeknight treat!
There aren’t many ingredients. Just orange zest, fresh raspberries, chocolate, pepitas and dried California Chiles! I cut the dried peppers into pieces, then pulsed them down to a lovely, spicy powder by using a coffee grinder! There are TWO things you need to know: 1) Always use caution when handling chile peppers. Use gloves, don’t touch your face or any sensitive areas when you’re working with peppers. Be sure to wash your cutting board and knife thoroughly when you’re finished. Keep those gloves on the whole time!! Trust me. I wear gloves, because the one time I didn’t, it was two days before my left eye stopped burning! NOT FUN! Be safe, friends! 2) If you use a coffee grinder to powder spices, make sure it’s a grinder dedicated to spices ONLY! You don’t want to grind coffee after you’ve been grinding peppers. That wouldn’t be pretty.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave and stir in your spice powder, orange zest and half the pepitas! Aren’t the colors pretty?
Spread the chocolate mixture on a small baking sheet. Top with more spices, more zest and more pepitas! Then it goes straight into the fridge to harden!
While the chocolate is hardening, place the berries, chile powder, a splash of fresh orange juice and a pinch of salt in the blender. Process until smooth. If you don’t like the look of raspberry seeds, strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve, into a bowl.
Scoop vanilla ice cream into dessert dishes. I think martini glasses are perfect for ice cream! It’s a whimsical way to serve this fun dessert! Spoon the spicy raspberry sauce over the ice cream, then add broken pieces of your orange chile chocolate bark to the top!
The whole family loved this dessert! The chocolate bark was a huge hit! We’ll be making it again very soon! Do you want to know the BEST part of this whole sweet and spicy chile experiment? I’ve teamed up with Melissa’s Produce and my Inland Empire Food Blogging Buddies (The Devil Wears Parsley, Decadently Fit, It’s Okay To Eat The Cupcake) and we’re giving away not one, not two, but FOUR of “The Great Pepper” cookbooks! One reader from each of our blogs will win a cookbook! Enter the contest using the entry form below the recipe! Good luck!!
Recipe from “The Great Pepper Cookbook. The Ultimate Guide to Choosing and Cooking with Peppers.”
Ingredients
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a glass bowl, heat chocolate in the microwave on medium until completely melted, stirring with a wooden spoon at 30-second intervals, about 2 minutes.
- Immediately stir in half of the pepitas, 2 tsp ground chile, ½ tablespoon orange zest, and paprika.
- Spoon chocolate mixture onto prepared baking sheet, spreading to an even thickness.
- Sprinkle with remaining half of pepitas, half of remaining ground chile (approx 3 ½ tsp) and remaining ½ tablespoon orange zest.
- Refrigerate until hardened, about 45 minutes.
- Break into 6 pieces.
- Place remaining chile powder, raspberries, juice, and salt in a blender, and process until smooth.
- Pour raspberry mixture evenly over ice cream, top evenly with bark. Serve.
UPDATE: Congratulations to our contest winners: Tim N, Amanda C, Annette P, and Denise K. We hope you enjoy your cookbooks as much as we do! Thank you Melissa’s for providing us this opportunity and for supplying such wonderful produce!!
*Disclaimer: Melissa’s Produce sent me produce and two cookbooks to review. I was not compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are completely my own.
Sara! I need that chocolate bark in my life!! It sounds so great, and looks so good! I break for chocolate and spice, though rarely together. Must try this!!!