Chocolate Glossary: A Glossary Of The Different Chocolate Types
Page 6: Make Hot Chocolate From Scratch: Recipes
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 White hot chocolate with lavender buds. Photo by Daniela Cuevas | THE NIBBLE. |
Hot Chocolate Recipes From The Experts
I asked a few chocolatier and ice-cream-making friends/acquaintances about their favorite hot chocolate recipes. Following are recipes to make your own hot chocolate and cocoa mixes from scratch.
- Chocolate Submarine. Mora Iced Creamery, in Washington State, offers something called a “Submarino” that is especially popular with children. Typically served in a clear glass with metal handles or a clear glass mug, a Submarino consists of a bar of your favorite good-quality chocolate unwrapped and placed into a mug of steamed milk, where you can watch your “submarine” melt and turn the “ocean” from white to brown. A mug with 6 ounces of steamed or heated milk can accommodate a thin chocolate bar of around 1.2 to 1.4 ounces quite handily. A thin bar will melt very rapidly; a chunk of a thicker bar will melt much more slowly. You get to decide what you like here, and it’s perfect for those who love to play with their food, like me. (Read more about Mora Iced Cream.)
- Chocolate Soup. Jeni Britton, of Jeni’s Ice Creams, serves a variation she calls a “hot chocolate soup”; it’s hot chocolate in a café au lait bowl, served with animal crackers and a handmade marshmallow. (Read more about Jeni’s Cream.)
- Chocolate & Cream. Art Pollard, of Amano Artisan Chocolate, favors a preparation of 2 ounces of a favorite chocolate bar melted into a mug’s worth of whole milk combined with 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. (Read more about Amano Chocolate, a NIBBLE Top Pick Of The Week.)
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+We’re making our “Submarino” with a thick bar of Amano Chocolate. Photo by Dhanraj Emanuel | THE NIBBLE. |
Recipe To Make Your Own Hot Chocolate From Scratch
Taking a page from Art Pollard’s recipe book, I’ve come up with a hot chocolate recipe easily made at home.
- In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine 2 to 3 ounces of your favorite semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped or as chips.
- Add 1 measuring tablespoon each granulated sugar and good-quality Dutch process cocoa powder, as well as a few grains of salt. Cover; process in ten second “bursts” at high speed just until finely ground (a few larger chunks of chocolate are O.K.).
- In a small, nonreactive saucepan, heat 3/4 cup whole milk plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream or 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water. If using the milk-cream mixture, stir frequently, preferably with a small whisk, until mixture is steaming hot (if you use water, it should be almost at a boil).
- Add the processed chocolate mixture. Whisk in well until dissolved and mixture is steaming hot. Serve immediately, preferably garnished with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Yields one large or two more reasonable servings.
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Treat yourself to a KitchenAid food processor. |
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Recipe To Make Your Own Cocoa Mix From Scratch
And what about a hot cocoa mix? Again, this easily made at home although it is a less perfect solution; you must keep stirring this as you drink or mix precipitates out of the water. Commercial producers use chemical agents to keep this from happening.
- In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine 1 cup instant nonfat dry milk, 2/3 cup good-quality Dutch process cocoa powder (preferably sifted or strained before measuring), 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and a few grains of salt.
- Cover; process at high speed in several “bursts” of ten seconds or so, just until mixture is finely ground and of an even color. Store airtight at cool room temperature for up to two months.
- For one cup of hot cocoa, place 1/3 cup mix into a mug; add 6 ounces of almost-boiling water. Stir thoroughly.
NOTES: Buy the instant nonfat dry milk dated as far ahead as possible, and check the sodium content of your cocoa powder! A manufacturer whose Dutch process I’d used for years suddenly changed its formulation recently, and now the Dutch process cocoa powder contains an absurd level of sodium. Ideally, a Dutch process cocoa powder should contain minimal sodium.
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Proceed to Part 2: A review of the best hot chocolates and cocoas.
Research Sources For Part 1
Acknowledgements
Thanks to John-Joseph Bober, Karalee LaRochelle of Cocoa Locoa, Art Pollard of Amano Artisan Chocolate, Jeni Britton of Jeni’s Ice Creams, Stephanie Reitano of Capogiro Gelato Artisans, Tracy Schneider and Jerry and Ana of Mora Iced Creamery. Very special thanks to Jerry and Joanne at Chocosphere.com.
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