Guajillo chiles have been one of my quiet obsessions for years. They’re not loud or aggressive. Instead, they carry a warm, sweet heat that lingers—more seductive than searing, and perfect for desserts when you want depth without domination, like a nice hot chocolate!
This ingredient came from none other than
, the wildly creative mind behind the moniker acooknamedmatt. If you’ve ever fallen into a scroll-hole of his bold, boundary-pushing videos, you know exactly how fun he is to watch. I started following Matt back when he was still broadcasting from the line—live, raw, and in the middle of service.So when he handed me guajillo as a challenge, I knew I had to make something that honored both the chile and the cook.
I thought I had a bag of them tucked away in my kitchen, but when I pulled it down, the chiles were dull and lifeless. (A little reminder from the universe: don’t hoard your good ingredients—use them while they still sing.) I went hunting and found some fresh beauties at a local international market. They were deep crimson, glossy-skinned, and fragrant with notes of dried fruit, smoke, and sun.
Every part of this dessert is infused with guajillo. I started by toasting the chiles to awaken their soul, then made a guajillo syrup to flavor a mango sorbet. I swirled in a homemade chamoy—bright, tangy, spicy—to give it visual flair and unexpected hits of flavor. For the base, I made a corn cake with toasted, rehydrated, blended guajillo, and finished the whole plate with a dusting of guajillo powder for that final flourish.
It’s sweet, it’s smoky, it’s got attitude—and it tells a story.
I hope you’ll give it a shot!
