Dessert: Chile-Ginger-Mint Jellies

Recipe by Alexis Touchet If suave and hipster-hot is your idea of a dessert, you've just found it. These chile-ginger-mint jellies are an almost academic study in the contrasting sensations of hot and cool. The Chinese consider ginger to be hot—it's the

Ingredients

3 cups water
1 cup thinly sliced fresh ginger (about 4 ounces; no need to peel)
1/2 cup sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped serrano or jalapeño chiles, including seeds (see Cooks' notes)
1 cup fresh mint leaves
2 1/4 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (almost one 1/4-ounce packet)
1 cup chilled heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

Instructions

Bring 2 1/2 cups water, ginger, sugar, and chiles to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and briskly simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in mint, then remove pan from heat. Cover pan with a lid and let stand for 15 minutes. Strain ginger-mint tea through a fine-mesh sieve into a large liquid measuring cup or bowl.
Sprinkle gelatin over remaining 1/2 cup water in cleaned saucepan and let stand for 1 minute to soften. Heat mixture over medium heat, stirring, until gelatin is dissolved, then stir mixture into ginger-mint tea until combined well.
Measure liquid, and if it's less than 2 1/2 cups, add more water. If it's more, don't worry. Let mixture cool for 30 minutes, then divide among six (6- to 8-ounce) serving glasses. Chill jellies in a small baking pan, tops of glasses covered with a sheet of paper towel secured by plastic wrap, until set, at least 4 hours.
Beat cream with sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds soft peaks. Top jellies with cream, candied ginger, and mint sprigs.

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