Serious Eats: Recipes

Black and Orange Recipe: Dark Chocolate, Mint, and Pumpkin Gelato Patch

Posted by Kerry Saretsky, October 29, 2008

Editor's Note: Since it's the last Wednesday in October, this will conclude our black and orange recipe feature. Thank you Kerry for creating each one!

I find that it pays off to seriously invest your time in a main course, but when it comes to appetizers, and especially to dessert, I say buy fabulous ingredients and arrange them simply and thoughtfully, but without much fuss. Here, I use dark chocolate, pumpkin gelato, and fresh mint to create a sweet, after-dinner pumpkin patch with flavors for children and grown-ups alike, with a touch of whimsy and certainly some elegance.

About the author: Kerry Saretsky is a Serious Eats intern and the creator of French Revolution Food, where she reinvents her family's classic French recipes in a fresh, chic, modern way.

Dark Chocolate, Mint, and Pumpkin Gelato Patch

Ingredients

1 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons of cream
1 pint of pumpkin gelato, which will yield at least the 6 scoops you need
6 sprigs of mint

Special Equipment

6 silicone baking cups, or 6 paper cupcake wrappers and a cupcake tin

Procedure

1. Using a double boiler, melt the chocolate and add the cream.

2. Using a pastry brush, brush the inside of 6 silicone baking cups with an even layer of chocolate.

3. Place the cups in the freezer for 15 minutes, until frozen through. Then repeat the process with a second layer of chocolate, and freeze again for 1 hour.

4. Scoop in one perfect round scoop of pumpkin gelato.

5. Top with a sprig of mint and arrange into a pumpkin patch on your plate.

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