Gelato – soft, creamy ice-cream – is a popular dessert in Italy, and such a wonderfully wide array of flavours is available: pistachio,  almond, hazelnut, egg custard, coffee, zuppa inglese, rum and raisin, even liquorice. Personally, I find the chocolate flavours calling to me, from the delicious cioccolato fondente  (fondant) to the cioccolato all’arancia (orange). But when it came to choosing a dessert to incorporate in a meal shared by my hero and heroine in The Echoes of Love, I had to go with  gelato cioccolato all’azteca: pepper- and cinnamon- infused chocolate ice-cream. It’s sumptuous, it’s tangy, it’s hot, it’s passionate: everything required to complete a romantic meal à deux.

Here’s an easy recipe you can try at home:

Ingredients

1 teaspoon cinnamon

150g caster sugar

230g chilli chocolate (try Thornton’s, Green & Black’s or Lindt)

375ml crème fraîche

375ml whole milk

4 large egg yolks, whisked

pinch of salt

1. Place the chocolate in a large mixing bowl.
2. Place the milk, salt and sugar in a saucepan and warm.
3. Gradually whisk the milk mixture into the eggs, and return to the saucepan, heating until thickened.
4. Strain sauce through a sieve over the chocolate and stir until it melts.
5. Whisk in the cream, and then the cinnamon.
6. Chill in the fridge for four hours and then freeze (or transfer to ice-cream/gelato maker).

Serve with ginger cake or chocolate cake. Enjoy!