Chile Berry Cooler Recipe

I will spare you all of the  metaphors and analogies about how hot it is outside. No matter what part of the country you are in right now, you can just stick your head outside and feel it for yourself, so no need for me to elaborate.

One of the casualties created by summer is often my time in the kitchen. As much as I would love to stand in my non-air conditioned kitchen with the stove or oven pumping even more heat out….I’ll pass. So, when Marx Foods issued a blog recipe contest, my initial thought was forget it! But then I read it a little more closely and realized that a) the recipe involved chile peppers and b) they were looking for cold recipes…well heck yeah I threw my hat in the ring!

My love of all things spicy is well documented. So when I received a package stuffed with dried smoked serrano, pequin, habanero, ancho, guajillo, cascabel and japones chiles it felt like it was my birthday.

I have several cold recipes planned for these chiles. But today’s recipe for the Chile Berry Cooler is undoubtedly the chilliest (pun intended). The first step in the recipe is to make the spicy simple syrup. You will have left over syrup to get creative with. Add it to teas, berries…anything!

Spicy Mint Simple Syrup

 Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 10 rehydrated pequin peppers
• 1 Tbsp dried mint

Directions:

• Add all ingredients to a small pot and heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly
• Continue to boil for 2 minutes, or until sugar has evaporated
• Place a mesh strainer over a glass container and pour the mixture through the strainer into the glass
• Use a fork to press the remnants into the mesh in order to squeeze out the flavor
• Allow simple syrup to cool
• Store in the refrigerator
• Makes 1 cup of simple syrup

Chile Berry Cooler Recipe

Ingredients:

• 10 fresh bing cherries (seeds and stems removed)
• 6 large strawberries (husked and quartered)
• 1/4 cup spicy mint simple syrup (recipe above)
• Ice
• Your choice of seltzer water, lemon-lime soda, ginger ale or prosecco
• 1/8 cup super fine sugar
• 2 dried pequin peppers (crushed)
• 1 wedge of lime

Directions:

• Place cherries, strawberries and syrup into a blended and blend until smooth
• On a plate the same width as the glass you will be using, mix together the super fine sugar and crushed peppers
• Run the lime wedge around the rim of your glass, making sure the entire rim is covered
• Place the glass, rim side down, into the sugar mixture and spin it to make sure the entire rim gets covered in the sugar mixture
• Fill the glass with ice, making sure not to knock off the spicy sugar rim
• Add 1/8 cup of the berry mixture (you may want to add more after you try it)
• Fill your glass with the liquid of your choice
• Garnish with limes, strawberries and/or cherries
• Make sure to take your first sips from the glass getting a nice mounthful of the delicious spicy sugar rim!

Disclaimer: I received the chiles for this recipe free of charge as a part of the Fire on Ice Chile Recipe Contest by Marx Foods.