No.41 Hot Chocolate

Saying that having a hot chocolate was a life changing moment seems dramatic but its true.  Whilst on a skiing holiday in the Italian Alps I had the best hot chocolate of my life. It was thick, rich, nourishing and completely different from frankly the pond water we serve in most cafes and coffee shops.  One of the keys to the taste was the use of real chocolate bars – the powders you buy often contain little or no cocoa butter.  This is important because although cocoa butter has little taste, it adds the fat which is needed for the luxurious texture. The second key is the time needed to make it.  This particular place used a “slushie machine” to continually agitate the mixture preventing lumps and making the hot chocolate smooth.  Think willy wonka and the chocolate waterfall. Constant stirring and a final sieve are essential to achieve this.

Serves: 4 cups   Time: 10 minutes

800ml of Whole Milk

320g of good quality milk chocolate

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of nutmeg

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

1. Add half the milk and all the other ingrediants to a milk pan and whisk umtil the chocolate has melted.
2. Add the remaining milk and whisk to combine.  If you have a way to measure temperature here bring the temperature of the mixture up to 70 degrees Celsius. If not, keep a close eye on the mixture making sure you do not burn the milk (if the temperature goes above 82 degrees Celsius the milk scalds destroying the proteins in the milk causing a bitter taste).
3. Sieve the mixture into a jug.
4. Then sieve the mixture again into your cups.