About the Recipe
P.11 Battered: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery
Alene cut through the alley, unlocked the back entrance and stepped into Whipped and Sipped’s kitchen. The comforting smell of yeast, the enticement of cinnamon and the complexity of chocolate all soothed Alene, who realized she’d been holding her shoulders and neck in awkward stiffness. Ruthie approached with a steaming cup of her favorite espresso topped with whipped almond milk, cocoa and cinnamon powder.”
Ingredients
1 ¼ cup water
1 small baked sweet potato (with skin)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Higher quality powder will taste better!)
1 TBSP instant decaf or coffee powder or crystals
1 tsp cinnamon (optional – you can also just use 1/2 tsp)
½ cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
Other options:
replace ¼ cup of water with a liquor
Replace ¼ cup of water with any kind of milk
add a whole peeled orange
add ¼ brown sugar for a sweeter frosting or sauce
only 1/2 tsp of cinnamon replaced with extra 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
Preparation
In a high-powered blender, use the ‘soup’ setting that heats up the ingredients. This heat is enough to temper the chocolate, which will turn shiny. It should be smooth enough to pour or spread. If you don’t have a soup setting, use your blender to mix everything until completely smooth, pour into a microwave-safe container, then zap in the microwave for one minute. Stir, zap another 30 seconds, and stir again until the sauce is a little steamy and silky looking. Add one of the options if you like it sweeter, or more liquid if you need it to be thinner right away.
After a night in the refrigerator, it will be thick like a ganache. Zap it again if you need it to be easily spreadable after being in the fridge. Use it to frost a cake, or dip strawberries, or enjoy teaspoonfuls of it all week (if it lasts that long).