Nieve de Pozol de Cacao

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Molcajete, metate, spice grinder, or clean coffee grinder for cacao
• •Small saucepan
• •Ice cream maker
• •Shallow covered freezer container

Instructions

1. 1

   Loosen the masa

   Break the fresh masa into small pieces and place it in a blender with 2 cups cold water. Blend until completely smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing with a spoon. The liquid should feel lightly thick, like thin atole. If you leave hard bits of masa in the base, they will turn gritty in the freezer. No me vengas con atajos.

2. 2

   Grind the cacao

   Grind the roasted cacao nibs in a molcajete, metate, spice grinder, or clean coffee grinder until they become a dark, oily paste. Stop before the motor heats the cacao if using a machine. Cacao has its own fat, and when it warms too much it smears instead of grinding cleanly. The paste should smell roasted and bitter, not scorched.

   If you can buy cacao from Soconusco or Tabasco, do it. Generic cocoa powder is a compromise, not an upgrade. Use 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder only when whole cacao is impossible to find.
3. 3

   Make the syrup

   In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 1 cup water, chopped piloncillo, cane sugar, cinnamon stick, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves, then simmer for 5 minutes. The syrup should look dark amber and smell of cane and cinnamon. Remove the cinnamon stick. Do not reduce it into candy. You need syrup, not brittle.

4. 4

   Blend the base

   Return the strained masa liquid to the blender. Add the cacao paste, warm piloncillo syrup, vanilla, and lime zest if using. Blend for 1 full minute. Taste it now. It should be slightly sweeter than you want the finished nieve, because cold dulls sweetness. If the cacao tastes shy, add another tablespoon of ground cacao. If the masa is too thick to move, add cold water 2 tablespoons at a time.

5. 5

   Rest the pozol

   Cover the base and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight if you want a faint pozol tang. The masa hydrates, the cacao settles into the corn, and the flavor becomes rounder. Stir before churning because real pozol separates. That is not failure. That is corn behaving like corn.

6. 6

   Churn until dense

   Churn the cold base in an ice cream maker according to the machine's instructions until thick, matte, and spoonable, usually 20 to 25 minutes. It will not whip like dairy ice cream because there is no cream here. Good. Pozol has body from nixtamal, not from milk fat. Así se hace y punto.

7. 7

   Freeze and serve

   Transfer the churned nieve to a shallow covered container and freeze for 2 hours, until firm enough to scoop. Let it stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving. Scoop into small jicaras, clay bowls, or low glass cups. Finish with toasted cacao nibs if using. The texture should be dense and cold, with tiny grains of corn and cacao under your teeth.

Chef Tips

• •Fresh masa de nixtamal is the backbone. Masa harina will work only if you have no tortilleria nearby, but it tastes flatter and needs more resting. Mix 1 1/2 cups masa harina with 1 1/4 cups warm water, knead it, rest 30 minutes, then use 12 ounces of that dough.
• •Do not use Dutch-process cocoa unless you want the dessert to taste like a supermarket brownie. Pozol de cacao needs roasted cacao bitterness. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
• •A little lime zest is common in some southern sweets because it sharpens piloncillo and cacao, but do not add lime juice. Acid can make the masa taste sour in the wrong way.
• •This is naturally dairy-free because pozol is a corn and cacao drink, not an ice cream base. Do not add cream to make it smoother. You will erase the thing you came here to make.
• •If the frozen nieve becomes too hard after a day, scrape it with a sturdy spoon like granita or let it soften for 10 minutes. Market nieves are often served with that firm, worked texture.

Advance Preparation

• •The pozol-cacao base can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Stir very well before churning because the masa will settle.
• •The churned nieve keeps for 1 week in the freezer. Press parchment directly against the surface before covering to limit ice crystals.
• •For a more traditional fermented note, rest the blended masa and water at cool room temperature for 6 hours before adding the cacao syrup, then chill and churn. Do this only in a clean kitchen and use it the same day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 195g)