One Saturday morning a couple weekends ago I was in my kitchen whipping up some food enjoying the background noise of the Food Network when I heard Marcela Valladolid say these two words on her show Mexican Made Easy: Chocolate Margarita.  I spun around, ignored everything that I was cooking, and stopped to watch as she made this bizarre yet intriguing cocktail.  My first thought was that I had to make it and the second thought was that I probably already had the ingredients to make it.  After a quick scan of my fridge, it was confirmed:  I could make this anytime I wanted.

Tequila, chocolate liqueur, and orange liqueur are mixed with chocolate syrup, cream, almond extract and a pinch of cinnamon to make a rich, creamy, chocolatey and strong dessert cocktail.  I used fat-free half-and-half in place of the cream and rimmed the glass with nonpareils instead of bittersweet chocolate (just because it was prettier).  This cocktail has tons of flavor so it’s hard to have more than one.  But it’s a margarita, right?  You really don’t need more than one.

The ingredients:

Rim glasses with chocolate syrup and shaved chocolate or nonpareils.  Combine all of the ingredients, except ice, in a pitcher.

Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a shaker full of ice.

Shake and pour into the prepared glasses. Serve cold.

Additions:  None

• Omissions:

Bittersweet chocolate

Substitutions:

• Fat-free half-and-half

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Mexican Made Easy, Food Network