The hot chocolate recipe on the back of the cocoa container tastes like bland liquid candy.
This tastes the way hot cocoa should:
Ingredients
- 1 generous cup milk (full-fat is where it’s at)
- 1 tbsp white sugar (just do it)
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder (not chocolate drink mix)
- 1/4 tsp Vietnamese cinnamon
- 1 tbsp milk for mixing
- few drops peppermint extract
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 20 oz Starbucks City Mug (got ’em cheap at a tag sale)
Preparation
- Microwave the generous cup o’ milk for 1 minute
- Mix dry ingredients in the giant mug
- Stir in just enough cold milk to make a thick mud (*)
- Add peppermint drops using 1/4 tsp measure
- Rinse 1/4 tsp measure with vanilla
- Blend the extracts into the mud (*)
- Stir in warm milk, scraping mud off the mug
- Microwave for another 45 s or so
- Stir to blend
What’s going on:
- More cocoa = more flavor, pure & simple
- Less sugar = more cocoa bite
- Vietnamese cinnamon adds the aroma & zip of those old Atomic Fireballs
- Vanilla smooths the taste
- Peppermint reminds you it’s winter
Sipping a cup in the afternoon banishes the urge to power-nosh anything else until suppertime…
* Update: non-alkalized / non-Dutch-process cocoa doesn’t blend well. Mix up the mud, let it set for 15 minutes, blend again, pause for 5 minutes, then proceed. Wonderfully smooth with no powder bombs.
