Food52
"Aztec Two Step" popped into my head when I heard what this contest was called. Then I had to set about learning what Aztec Two Step refers to (I didn't know), and then follow the path of chocolate from the Aztecs to Spain, and then the rest of Europe, with an especially helpful stop in Italy. I found an amazing video at www.gourmetsleuth.com, which shows two women from Oaxaca (now living in LA) making "Mexican Chocolate" from raw cacao beans into the dried disc used to make the chocolate drink whirred with a molinillo. Then Blue Corn and Chocolate, by Elisabeth Rozin, told the story of chocolate from the Aztec court of Montezuma to the modern chocolate bar. Two Step? I wanted something like a terrine with two different layers, two different colors.. Somehow ricotta seemed like a fit, and a spicy cocoa rub for pork roast was reinvented to come closer to the pantry of pre-invasion Mexico and the recipe in my head.. Helpful resources: Budino di Ricotta from Ada Boni's Italian Regional Cooking; Cocoa Rub from the blog http://dailybreadjournal.blogspot.com/. We loved the outcome, decided it was a coffee cake, and tried it warm, cool, and next day. Each is different, each is good. It is very moist at first, but the next day the moisture is redistributed and the texture much more firm. It has an endearing look, but it's not pretty. A sieving of confectioner's sugar, a spoon of barely sweetened vanilla whipped cream, sliced strawberries -- you can dress it up for looks and a bit of contrast, but the cake stands on its own. My sources say that sugar was not used with cacao, and cinnamon was brought to Mexico by the Spaniards. Necessarily, liberties have been taken.
