National Taco Day: Chocolate Tacos

October 4 is National Taco Day. You may seem that's odd to mention on a Chocolate Blog, but you'd be mistaken. As I've said before, you can make practically anything out of chocolate.

I have two different types of chocolate tacos to share with you. The first is more like a traditional taco and very healthy, too. Great chocolate and fresh fruit with a hint of heat from the cayenne.
This reminds me of real tacos. Anything with chocolate, cinnamon and cayenne works for me.
The second taco is a frozen ice-cream: Choco Taco. You can buy this ready made at various locations--or I've added a link to a Choco Taco blog at Serious Eats, so you can make it yourself.

Chocolate Tacos (listed as Chocolate Tortillas)
Adapted from Breakfast by Barbara Passino ((The Gerald & Marc Hoberman Collection) February 2009

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened high quality cocoa
2 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup skim milk
1 -1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Preparation

To make the batter:
Place all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth with an electric mixer. Cover batter and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To cook and shape the tortilla:
Remove the batter from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature, which will take 20-30 minutes. Heat a small non-stick skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Pour in a little less than 1/4 cup of batter and tilt the pan quickly to spread the batter into a 6-inch circle. Once the edges look dry (2 or 3 minutes), loosen the edges with a knife and turn over the tortilla. Cook another minute or two.

Lift the soft hot chocolate tortilla out of the pan with a knife and quickly drape it over a rolling pin. It will become firm and crisp as it cools. Alternatively, if you have a taco rack, put the soft tortilla in that to firm up, teasing the middle open so that you'll have lots of room for fruit.

Hint from the Chef: *** (this is very important)***
If the tortilla doesn't firm up, it means it isn't thoroughly cooked, so cook it a bit longer. It should be dry when you remove it from the skillet.

Fresh Fruit Filling (you can choose all of the below or just what you'd like)

2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced (grind a tiny amount of fresh black pepper on top)
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes or sliced into 1/2-inch thick strips
2 kiwi, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 banana, peeled and sliced into rounds just before serving to prevent browning

Gently mix berries together in a bowl. Keep the remaining fruit separate until assembling or they'll pick up the colors from the berries.

To serve:
1/2 pint sorbet (Use a flavor of one of the fruits)
8 mint sprigs
8 edible flowers

Place a tortilla on a serving plate. Generously fill it with the berries and then tuck in the mango, kiwi and bananas. Add a scoop of sorbet and garnish with mint and the edible flower.

***

Here's another variation on a Chocolate Taco: ChocoTaco: A Waffle Cone folded like a taco with ice cream inside and frozen chocolate all over. This is marketed under both the Good Humor and Klondike Brands. You can find this in the freezer case at grocers, gas stations, and sometimes at Taco Bell.

Want to make your own Choco Taco? Erin Zimmer at Serious Eats has a recipe for just that. I love that she molds her tacos on Kafka's The Trial. Great recipe and step-by-step photos.

So now you have several options for Chocolate Tacos for October 4: National Taco Day.