Mexican Chocolate Paté with Caramel Drizzle

Part of the tapas dinner I recently served to nephew Brian and his gal Adrienne was the Mexican Chocolate Paté with Caramel Drizzle. I have been itching to make this rich dessert but extremely hesitant because of the volume and richness (no, I don’t want JT eating too many sweets, I’d like him around for a long, long time!). I came across the recipe in Epicurious, and of course, I altered it. Click Epicurious to see the original! Also, because Adrienne is gluten intollerant, I decided to make this sans crust, which just adds to the paté name anyway. It’s very spicy and rich, hope you enjoy!

Mexican Chocolate Paté

Mexican Chocolate Paté

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2.5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/8 cup (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, room temperature
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cayenne if you’re daring, if not, just do a 1/2!
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Bring cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; whisk until melted.
2. Add butter, 1 piece at a time; whisk until smooth.
3. Whisk in vanilla, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt.
4. Allow to cool a bit.
5. Line a very small (10cm x 5cm) loaf pan with plastic wrap. Make sure you press the wrap into the corners well.
6. Pour filling into pan. Chill until filling begins to set, about 15 to 20 minutes, but overnight is best.
7. To serve, remove from pan and carefully peel away the plastic wrap.
8. Slice into 1 cm slices and carefully place on a large plate (I paired this portion of the dessert with two other chocolaty desserts to make a trio, but you don’t have to)
9. Drizzle caramel sauce over (you can also add whipped cream and berries if you wish).
10. Enjoy!

Caramel Sauce (originall from Christine Cushing, and I only altered the directions!)

• 3/4 cup sugar (175 ml)
• 2/3 cup whipping (35%) cream (150 ml)
• 2 tablespoons brandy (30 ml)

1. Heat sugar on high in a tall medium sized pot. When sugar melts and JUST begins to turn a darkish amber colour, remove from heat and add cream (you’ll want to do this in a sink as the caramel will bubble up quite a bit).
2. Continue to whisk and add the brandy and whisk until smooth.
3. Let cool before serving. Serve with the Mexican Chocolate Paté, above.