No.89 Lavender & Lemongrass White Hot Chocolate

The nightmare with white hot chocolate is that it can be too sweet. The idea here is to keep that sweetness we love and balance it with other flavours. Lemongrass and lavender do this wonderfully.

I often keep some spare lemongrass in the freezer but dried lemongrass works well too. Lavender flowers are surprisingly not that hard to get. Try specialist food stores and some of the larger supermarkets.

Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Difficulty: Straight forward

2 teaspoons of Lavender Flowers

2 teaspoons of dried Lemongrass or half a blade of fresh lemongrass

150ml of Water

2 tablespoons of Brown Sugar

800ml Whole Milk

160g of White Chocolate

Lavender & Lemongrass Infusion

1. Prepare the infusion by cutting the lemongrass lengthwise and then cut cross the stalk. Add these to a mortar and pestle and briefly crush with half the sugar. Add to a saucepan.
2. In a mortar and pestle crush the lavender flowers with the remaining sugar. Add to the lemongrass and put in 150ml of boiling hot water.
3. Leave covered for 10 minutes.
4. After this time strain and keep refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Hot Chocolate

1. Break up the chocolate into small pieces or grate into smaller pieces again.
2. Heat the milk until it has just reached a simmer. Then take off the heat.
3. Add the chocolate into the milk, whisking until smooth. Reheat if needed.
4. Add three tablespoons of the infusion to the milk mixture. Whisk and taste, adding more of the infusion to your desired taste.