Frothy Spiced Drinking Chocolate with Ancho Chile & Canela

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A thick, almost pourable cup of real chocolate — dark chocolate melted into milk that has been steeped with toasted ancho chile, Mexican canela, star anise and allspice, sweetened with piloncillo and given body by a spoonful of ground toasted almonds. Blended hard at the end so it arrives with a cappuccino-like cap of foam, the way it's whipped with a molinillo in Oaxacan chocolate shops. Served in small cups: it's rich, gently smoky and warm rather than hot-hot.

Ingredients

• 1 dried ancho chile
• 1 stick Mexican cinnamon (canela), broken into pieces, or 1 regular cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise pod
• 4 whole allspice berries
• 3 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons raw almonds
• 1 strip orange zest, peeled with a vegetable peeler

• 5 ounces dark chocolate (70%), finely chopped
• 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons grated piloncillo, or packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

• ground cinnamon, for dusting
• flaky salt, optional
• lightly whipped cream, optional

Instructions

1. Stem the ancho chile, tear it open and shake out the seeds. Tear the flesh into 3 or 4 pieces. Set a dry skillet over medium heat and toast the chile pieces, pressing them flat with a spatula, about 30 seconds per side — until they smell sweet and smoky and turn slightly pliable. Do not let them darken or scorch, which turns them bitter. Transfer to a plate.
2. In the same skillet, toast the almonds, cinnamon pieces, star anise and allspice over medium heat, shaking often, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the almonds are golden at the edges and the spices are fragrant. Slide everything onto the plate with the chile.
3. Combine the milk, water, toasted chile, toasted spices, almonds and orange zest strip in a medium saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat until the surface steams and small bubbles ring the edge, about 180°F — do not boil. Turn off the heat, cover, and steep for 15 minutes.
4. Set a fine-mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the milk through it. Press the solids firmly with the back of a spoon to squeeze out every bit of liquid, then discard them. You should have about 3 cups of tea-colored, faintly spicy milk; top up with a splash of milk if you're short.
5. Return the strained milk to the rinsed saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the piloncillo, cocoa powder and salt and whisk until dissolved, about 1 minute.
6. Take the pan off the heat and add both chocolates all at once. Let them sit undisturbed for 1 minute to soften, then whisk steadily from the center outward until the mixture is glossy, uniform and slightly thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the vanilla.
7. Return to low heat and cook, whisking, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the chocolate coats the back of a spoon and reads 160 to 165°F. It should be thick enough to leave a faint trail behind the whisk. Never let it boil.
8. Froth it: carefully pour the chocolate into a blender, filling it no more than halfway, crack the lid vent to let steam escape, cover the lid with a folded towel and blend on medium for 20 to 30 seconds until a thick foam builds. (Or froth in the pan with a molinillo or immersion blender, working it back and forth for about 1 minute.)
9. Pour into four small warmed cups, 6 ounces each. Dust with ground cinnamon, add a pinch of flaky salt or a spoon of loosely whipped cream if you like, and drink while the foam is still standing.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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