Hot chocolate recipe

Hot chocolate can be a delicious and comforting beverage, especially during cold winter months. If chilled, however, you'll have a refreshing drink or possibly a dessert depending on how you dress it up.

Hot chocolate should not to be confused with hot cocoa. The former is made with actual chocolate and is a richer, much more substantial beverage. The latter is produced from cocoa powder or from a manufactured product containing cocoa powder such as hot cocoa mixes available at grocery stores.

Ingredients

• chocolate
• milk/water

Optional Inredients

• cream
• flavourings: such as herbs, spices, liqueur, mint etc.

Method

1. Obtain some good quality chocolate. This can be milk, dark, or even white chocolate, depending on your preferences and flavors you wish to add.
   
   
2. Chop the chocolate finely on a clean cutting board or counter. One of the easiest ways to chop the chocolate is to use a serrated knife. The amount of chocolate you use depends on how strong and rich you want the beverage to be. A good starting point is 25g of chocolate per cup of liquid. If you need more chocolate, simply add it.
3. Turn the stove top to a medium-low or low setting. Pour milk or water into the pot and gently add the chopped chocolate.
   

An alternative to direct heat is to double boil. If you choose to double boil, place a small pot of water on high heat and put a metal bowl on top. Add the chocolate and stir until fully melted turning the heat down some once the water has reached boiling point. Then add cream at 1:1 to the chocolate and stir, effectively making a ganache. The ganache will be added to your mug of hot milk when finished. Add any flavorings suggested below to the ganache while stirring in the cream. (Using the double boil method should make it more difficult to burn your chocolately goodness, but be careful with the bowl as it will get hot!)

Make sure each serving of hot chocolate is at least 4oz (120ml) for a richer beverage and at most 8oz (240ml) for a thinner beverage.

This is the point where you can add liqueur if you wish. Doing so now will burn off some of the alcohol and mellow out the flavor.

Spices and other flavorings can be added here as well. To increase their flavor presence in the hot chocolate, they will need the opportunity to steep for a longer period of time. However, if you want a subtler, less pronounced flavor, hold off for now.

4. Stir continuously with a whisk until the liquid and chocolate combine completely. Just when you think the two are incorporated, you might notice black flecks scattered in the chocolaty matrix. These flecks are bits of unmelted chocolate, so you should continue to stir until they disappear.

5. Add desired flavorings once you have a fully emulsified liquid in the pot. Liqueur can also be added, but if you do so now, you might find the flavor too strong because the alcohol will not have had a chance to evaporate.

6. Turn off the heat and pour in cups immediately afterwards. Garnish with whatever you wish, such as mint leaves, cinnamon sticks, or whipped cream.

7. Enjoy! And have fun with trying out all sorts of variations!