New Mexico Has A Brilliant Secret Ingredient For Ice Cream Sundaes

Perhaps you've adventurously tried adding unique toppings to spruce up an ice cream sundae made at home like balsamic vinegar, potato chips, olive oil, gorgonzola cheese, or caviar. Your next ultimate sundae may be calling for a bit more heat, however, and we have the good folks at Caliche's in New Mexico to thank for providing some inspiration in showing us how this culinary feat can be accomplished.

Tossing peppers onto an ice cream may sound like an unexpected move but that is exactly what is served in an order of Caliche's special green chile sundae. Topped with a locally grown and homemade green chile topping, this cold dessert can be enhanced with a choice of nuts like salted pecans. When garnished with a maraschino cherry, the sweet presentation of frozen vanilla custard may look like a sundae that has been crowned with caramel, but the sneaky addition of chile offers a whisper of heat that ultimately enhances the sweetness of the cold dessert.

Note that the green chile topping used in the sundae recipe isn't akin to something you might find smothered on top of a burrito. Similar to the way in which hatch chiles can be turned into jam, Caliche's combines sugar with green chile to make something that more closely resembles a spicy strawberry sauce. The surprising combination works and has kept a steady stream of visitors ordering the curiously-sounding treat. Samples are offered to those not quite sold on the idea, and for customers who would rather a order more traditionally-made option, there are plenty of other desserts like malts, floats, and different sundaes to help quiet any persistent sweet tooth. 

The frozen custard sold at Caliche's straddles the line of texture between ice cream and soft serve, so if you have a classic dessert blended with strawberries and cheesecake chunks or caramel and espresso in mind, you'll be able to take bites without having to worry about any sneaky waves of heat dancing on your palate. Even if you can't make it to New Mexico or have the courage to dig into chile-topped ice cream, may Caliche's encourage you to start looking for ways to add a bit of heat to the next sweet recipes you whip up at home.