Is chocolate a French creation? Belgium? Mexican? Oh yes it was the Aztecs and Montezuma who figured out how to process the hard little cacao bean into a drink that was believed to give strength, courage, and wisdom to all who drank it. It was also believed to posses rare aphrodisiac powers. Montezuma would have 50 gold goblets full of his beloved chocolate drink each day before he’d make the nightly visits to his harem. A drink surely fit for the gods!
And so our story continues with Cortés and his famous march inward into Mexico, using the strength of his forces to form an important alliance with the enemies of the Aztecs. When Cortés arrives, he is welcomed as an honored guest by a trusting Montezuma because he resembles a legendary light-skinned god-king whose return was prophesied in Aztec legend. Cortes received his first taste of Xocolatl, the Aztec chocolate, as part of the royal welcoming. Alas, Montezuma finds out too late that Cortes is there to conquer them and not the reincarnated God they had been waiting for.
Cortes takes this “secret” of chocolate back to Spain and it is not quite the hit with the royal crowd he had expected. The bitter drink needed a little doctoring up but once they added sugar cane and some spices such as cinnamon and vanilla, the drink began to gain acceptance with the royals and nobles. Monks, hidden away in Spanish monasteries, are appointed as the processors of the cocoa beans and they keep chocolate a secret for nearly another century. When the daughter of King Philip III of Spain and King Louis XIII of France were married in 1615, she spilled the beans, so to speak, when she presented her new husband with a gift of chocolate, packaged in an elegant, ornate chest. Stories about the wonders of chocolate spread throughout Europe.
Prepare to drink your dessert! Honestly, this is one of my favorite ways to have dessert….liquid!
Chocolate Margarita Martini
Ingredients:
To rim the glasses:
Chocolate syrup
Finely chopped Ibarra Mexican chocolate or bittersweet chocolate
Martini:
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
1 cup (8 ounces) tequila
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Cask & Cream Chocolate Temptation or Godiva Chocolate Liquor
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup orange liqueur (Cointreau)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Ice
Directions:
To rim the glasses: Put the syrup and chopped chocolate into 2 small dishes. Moisten the rims of 4 margarita or martini glasses with the chocolate syrup. Dip them in the Mexican chocolate until coated. Set aside.
Martini: Combine all of the ingredients, except ice, in a pitcher and chill until ready to serve. Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a shaker can full of ice. Shake and strain into the prepared glasses. Serve cold.
- Chocolate syrup
- Finely chopped Ibarra Mexican chocolate or bittersweet chocolate
- 1/2 cup chocolate syrup
- 1 cup (8 ounces) tequila
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) Cask & Cream Chocolate Temptation or Godiva Chocolate Liquor
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup orange liqueur (Cointreau)
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Ice
- To rim the glasses: Put the syrup and chopped chocolate into 2 small dishes. Moisten the rims of 4 margarita or martini glasses with the chocolate syrup. Dip them in the Mexican chocolate until coated. Set aside.
- Martini: Combine all of the ingredients, except ice, in a pitcher and chill until ready to serve. Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a shaker can full of ice. Shake and strain into the prepared glasses. Serve cold.
