How Do You Make Your Hot Chocolate?

[Barbara L]

I like mine with a dollop of nutella mix into it and topped with a generous amount of whipped cream, and sometimes with a caramel syrup. But mostly the first option

OH MY GOSH!!!! I'll bet they serve this in Heaven!!!!

Barbara

 

[gawillow]

Hershey's cocoa powder and sugar, add just enough hot milk to melt the chocolate, then add the remaining hot milk and stir. Top with real whipped cream.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I like marshmallows in hot chocolate, but I LOVE whipped cream in it.

Barbara

I'm with you Barbara. Everything is better with whipped cream!

 

[MexicoKaren]

Oh gosh, that nutella combo is brilliant...I'm going to try it soon. Since we moved south of the border, I use Abuelita (made by Nestle, but what isn't?). It is a round disc of sweetened chocolate that you break up and melt in milk. There is is special wooden kitchen tool called a mollilo that you are supposed to whisk it with, but I don't have one, so I just use a whisk. Very very good and rich. "Abuelita" means "little grandmother". I think it is sold pretty widely in the US - look in the Mexican food section at your grocery. Hexagonal box, yellow and red, with a happy little granny on it....

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Oh gosh, that nutella combo is brilliant...I'm going to try it soon. Since we moved south of the border, I use Abuelita (made by Nestle, but what isn't?). It is a round disc of sweetened chocolate that you break up and melt in milk. There is is special wooden kitchen tool called a mollilo that you are supposed to whisk it with, but I don't have one, so I just use a whisk. Very very good and rich. "Abuelita" means "little grandmother". I think it is sold pretty widely in the US - look in the Mexican food section at your grocery. Hexagonal box, yellow and red, with a happy little granny on it....

Ooooh, Karen, I love Mexican Hot Chocolate. Abuelita is available at every store here and it's what I use for hot chocolate, too. So yummy. I think it has cinnamon in it.

 

[PeterAtwood]

I like a heaping teaspoonful of Dean's Beans organic fair trade cocoa and a pinch of sugar. Heat water and when it gets to stage where it's close to boiling I add a little to the cup and make a thick slurry to mix the cocoa in. Then top with water being sure to leave some room. I then add a splash of half and half just as you would to coffee. Usually that is followed by a splash of Kaluha and crowned with a dollop of whipped cream. What a great treat and not full of artificial crap like the packets which I used to drink.

BTW, Dean is a real good guy and local roaster with excellent coffee and cocoa products. He is one of the founders of the Fair Trade movement. Can't say enough good about his stuff, some of the best coffee I've had.

 

[Nat2007]

Mine is very simple. I take good quaility chocolate, like Varlhona if you know the brand.

I put a pan on the fire with milk to warm up. I break the chocolate in pieces and add them to the milk, stirring all the time so it melts completely. I vary the amount of chocolate ...for example my husband likes it very very thick...I do not like it like that, so I make it thick and then add more milk for me.

Eventually a bit of brandy adds a nice flavour as well.

And whipped milk on top....

 

[Jeff G.]

Ghirardelli hot chocolate mix. Make as instructed on the can.
Add a dash of cinnamon and a dash of red pepper(if you want a little kick).

 

[hainguyen]

All this discussion makes me want hot chocolate now! It was quite cool outside today so it feels right to have hot choco. I just boil some water in a kettle and pour it in a cup with a store bought hot chocolate mix hehe! I do have some cocoa powder stashed up though so I should try making it like Alix.

 

[nicktrick]

I fill my mug with milk. Pop it into the microwave. Take it out and add a couple teaspoons of cocoa powder and some stevia. Done! simple and delicious.

 

[Claire]

Husband has blood sugar issues, and hot chocolate isn't a favorite of mine. So ... my recipe is to go to the store, and find the lowest carb count per cup. Looks like brown water to me, but my husband can put a drop of rum in it and be happy.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Husband has blood sugar issues, and hot chocolate isn't a favorite of mine. So ... my recipe is to go to the store, and find the lowest carb count per cup. Looks like brown water to me, but my husband can put a drop of rum in it and be happy.

The Swiss Miss Dark Chocolate Sensation is not too bad, Claire. 24g carbs if made with water. I use the hot chocolate as my before bed snack.

 

[mmyap]

I love it. There are so many different path's to reach the glorious destination! I'm totally down with the bourbon part. And I've done Bailey's. And Kahlua. And even rum. Quit looking at me like that.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I love it. There are so many different path's to reach the glorious destination! I'm totally down with the bourbon part. And I've done Bailey's. And Kahlua. And even rum. Quit looking at me like that.

Must be why you walk sideways...

 

[medtran49]

Our adult daughter and I did the Italy tour bus thing for a week that included New Year's in 1998. We were in Florence one bitterly cold morning for us at least (from S. Florida) and everybody went into a little coffee shop to have something hot to drink while we were touring. DD absolutely hates coffee in any form so she decided to order the hot chocolate. It took FOREVER for them to make. Me and the other 3 we were with were all on our second cup of cappucino or espresso when it finally came. Oh my, it was like molten chocolate and she was in heaven. We all had to have a taste. It was worth every single minute it took to get it. We all wanted to take it away from her. This recipe from a chocolatier that was on Paula Deen's show is the closest I've been able to come to it.

Vanilla Custard:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 1/2 cups milk, divided
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Hot Chocolate:
7 ounces (2 chocolate bars) semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup milk, boiled

Directions


Sprinkle the cornstarch over about 1/2 cup of the milk in a small bowl and whisk to dissolve. Add egg yolks and sugar and whisk well.

Over low heat, in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, bring the remaining 2 cups of milk and the vanilla bean just to a simmer. Remove the bean, scraping the vanilla seeds into the milk, and discard the bean. Gradually whisk the egg yolk mixture into the milk.

Cook until the sauce comes to a full boil, whisking often, about 3 minutes. If using vanilla extract, stir in now. Strain the mixture through a wire sieve into a bowl.

Add the chopped chocolate chunks to the vanilla cream and a boiled cup of milk. Mix until smooth. Serve hot.

The semi-sweet chocolate can be substituted with milk or white chocolate.

Since it is so rich and there is only 2 of us now, I usually make the whole recipe, let what's left cool, refrigerate and reheat as needed over the next day or 2.

Sometimes you also have to add more milk to thin it out as otherwise you have thin but very rich chocolate pudding, but it should be a very thick drink.

 

[vitauta]

did you know that those little pastel-colored marshmallows you get in lucky charms cereal can be bought all by themselves in a bag? yess--dehydrated mini marshmallows!! they are a super fun topping for a mug of hot chocolate, or coffee, if you like. too bad, i had to go and find out that they also make super yummy snacks straight out of the bag....

 

[Mad Cook]

It's SO cold and blustery here today and all I can think of to warm up a bit is a good cup of hot chocolate. It got me to thinking of all of the different ways to make basic hot cocoa and all of the great things you can do to add variations.

So....how do you like your hot chocolate?

At home, usually since time's of essence, I like to heat some milk (either stove or microwave) and add in some chocolate syrup or Ovaltine. If I have time though, I love to slowly heat a few squares of chocolate into milk on the stove and add a good splash of vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon.

Green and Blacks hot chocolate powder (not straight cocoa) with hot milk and a substantial slug of Cointreau or other Orange liqueur. A friend likes it with Crème de Menthe

 

[jabbur]

I like it with Carnation Chocolate Malt stirred into regular milk and heated. Don't normally put marshmallows on top but won't turn them down. I just don't have them in the house on a regular basis.

 

[Addie]

Hershey's cocoa, canned milk, hot water, and a giant dollop of Marshmallow Fluff on top. At the end of the cup you have a chocolate, marshmallow mustache that you lick off. My mother made this for me every morning with two slices of toast for dunking.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I usually add a few spoonsful of Nestle' Quik into a half-cup of milk, nuke until warm so I can mix the powder into the milk with a whisk, then nuke until hot. I have one cupworth left of a bottle of "Silly Cow Farms" hot chocolate mix that I bought mostly for the cute little half-pint glass milk bottle with a cow on the front, but the mix is pretty darned good! I was going to have a cup of hot chocolate with a glug of creme de cocoa in it but after the baseball game I'm listening to I could have a cup of creme de cocoa and skip the hot chocolate.