Clementine Countdown: 5

Clementine segments dipped in chocolate with spicy sugar and unsweetened cream. When you put these little jewels in your mouth, it’s sugar and hard chocolate first, then a burst of cold orange, then the chili flake fire, which gets put out by the unsweetened cream. It’s a saga in seconds. A story you want to hear again and again.

• Line a cookie sheet or large tray with parchment.
• Peel and segment 4 or 5 clementines.  
• Heat ½ cup good chocolate (around 70% cocoa) and a pat of butter in a double boiler.
• Mix 2 T rock sugar and 1 t red chili flakes in a mortar and pestle until slightly broken down and well combined.
• Dip clementine segments in the hot chocolate, then the sugar mixture, and then lay them to cool on the parchment. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Serve with unsweetened whipped cream.