It is no secret that I love Chocolate! So I decided that sharing my passion with you is the best gift I can give to you this Christmas. Chocolate is a very diverse and multifaceted epicurean delight. It would be impossible to share all there is to know about chocolate here…I would have to write a book!
So during the season of snow and cold what better way to warm the body and soul than a wonderful cup of hot chocolate or hot cocoa…Yes! There is a difference between the two! Hot cocoa is made of dry ingredients like dry milk and cocoa powder. Hot Chocolate is the real deal…milk and real chocolate. Most people prefer one of the other and it just depends on your taste as to which one you think is better.
I have included here some of my favorite recipes. The first one is my own concoction… the others I have found over the years. I consider them the “best of the best.” All of them are wonderful and worth the effort to try them. I say worth the effort because fine chocolate, like fine wine, is sometimes hard to find and takes a little bit of effort to find really GOOD chocolate. When you find it – it makes all the difference! Today with the use of the internet it is not as hard as it once was. Also, fine chocolate has recently become fashionable; most grocery stores are starting to carry quite an array of them. Every chocolate is different. How it tastes depends on where it is grown. Valrhona (from France) is considered one “the best” chocolates in the world. It is grown exclusively on one cocoa plantation and picked and prepared by hand. If you get your hands on some you will know you have died and gone to chocolate heaven. But if you can’t find this one near you then you might opt for some of the more easily available variety. Scharffen Berger is excellent and available at William-Sonoma. Some others are Amedei, Domori, Pralus and Valrhona to name a few. Try some of them out or find others not mentioned here and you will see what I mean. And for heaven sakes, DO NOT use Hershey’s chocolate unless you just really like it! Be adventurous and try something new! Break out of your comfort zone and you might be amazed at what you find! Enjoy!
Debbie’s Spicy Hot Cocoa Mix
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup high quality cocoa powder*
2 cups powdered milk
1 cup non-dairy creamer
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Allspice
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
Hot water
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly. In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water.
Fill your mug half full with the mixture and pour in hot water. Stir to combine. Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps indefinitely in the pantry. This also works great with warm milk for a richer treat.
* Use Ghirardelli at the least (trust me it makes a difference!) and for an extra treat William-Sonoma carries Valrhona cocoa.
Serendipity Frozen Hot Chocolate
It's famous, it's infamous, it's notorious. It has destroyed diets and led to love affairs. Marriages have been proposed over it, couples have been wed in it, princes have been made from it. People have traveled from all corners of the world for just one sip of our creamy, dreamy, icy blend of chocolaty goodness. It'll make you want to blow bubbles through your straw. It makes everyone a child again.
For years, fans begged and plead and offered firstborn sons for the recipe, but we three princes guarded the formula with our lives. It was such a closely kept secret that not even the White House could gain access to it. Jackie Kennedy once requested the recipe so that it could be served at a gala evening at the While House. I offered to travel to Washington to make it myself, but when my security clearance didn't come through in time, I refused to hand over the secret formula — not even to the First Lady herself!
When customers asked how it was made, we would respond that we had a Rube Goldberg machine churning it out in the back — a hodgepodge of arms, wheels, gears, handles, paddles, and even canaries in cages working in concert to concoct the magic elixir. We would never let on that it was as simple as a blender and some magnificent chocolate.
And now, to thank our customers for fifty great years, we've finally decided to share the secret recipe with the world. For truly authentic Serendipity taste, throw a sprinkle of magic in the mix. For this and all the frozen drinks that follow, the recipe yields one gigantic Serendipity-sized serving, which is perfect for sharing. Enjoy.
6 half-ounce pieces of a variety of your favorite chocolates
2 teaspoons store bought hot chocolate mix
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 cups ice
Whipped cream
Chocolate shavings
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring occasionally until melted. Add the cocoa and sugar, stirring constantly until thoroughly blended. Remove from heat and slowly add 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
In a blender place the remaining cup of milk, the room temperature chocolate mixture, and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth and the consistency of a frozen daiquiri. Pour into a giant goblet and top with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Enjoy with a spoon or a straw. . . .or both!
White House Hot Cocoa
This was gleaned from whitehouse.gov, "from Mrs. Bush's kitchen"
Ingredients:
6 T. Unsweetened cocoa
6 T. Sugar
Pinch of Salt
2 1/2 cup Milk
2 1/2 cup Light Cream
1/2 t. Vanilla (or more)
Pinch of Cinnamon Powder (optional)
Whipped Cream
Orange Zest
Mix cocoa, salt, and sugar.
Add milk. Heat to dissolve.
Add light cream, cinnamon, vanilla. Heat to just under boiling.
Mix very well and pour into warm mug.
Top with whipped cream, cocoa powder, and fine orange zest.
Chocolat Chaud
(From It Must've Been Something I Ate by Jeffrey Steingarten — adapted from Pierre Hermé)
Ingredients:
• 2-1/4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup bottled still water
• 1/4 cup (generous) superfine granulated sugar
• 1 100-gm bar (3-1/2 ounces) dark bittersweet chocolate, Scharffen Berger, Valrhona, or Lindt (see note, below), finely sliced with a serrated bread knife
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce or 28 gm) cocoa powder, loosely packed, preferably Valrhona
Instructions:
In a 2-quart saucepan, stir together the milk, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the chopped chocolate and the cocoa and bring to a boil again, whisking until the chocolate and cocoa are dissolved and the mixture has thickened. Reduce the heat to very low.
Blend for 5 minutes with an immersion mixer or whirl the hot chocolate in a standard blender for half a minute, until thick and foamy.
Yield: Four 6-ounce cups of hot chocolate.
Note: I [Steingarten] use a dark chocolate containing close to 70 percent cocoa, though Lindt bittersweet also works just fine. The Mayans and the Aztecs considered the froth the best part. Today, five minutes with an immersion mixer or a blender accomplishes what a half hour of beating did long ago.
White Hot Chocolate
Recipe created by Martha Stewart for Oprah Winfrey
Ingredients:
2 cups of heavy cream
6 cups whole milk
12 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 block of dark chocolate
Using a vegetable peeler, shave chocolate into curls; set aside.
Place white chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl; set aside. Place milk and cream in a medium saucepan set over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around edges of pan (about 4 minutes). Do not boil.
Remove mixture from the flame. Immediately pour over white chocolate. When chocolate begins to melt, gently stir to combine.
Whisk in vanilla. Continue whisking until light foam forms.
Serve immediately. Garnish with chocolate shavings or Homemade Marshmallows. Serves 8
Homemade Peppermint Marshmallows
For an extra wonderful treat make your own marshmallows! Yes!...I am serious...just try it!
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 4 packages (1/4 ounce each) unflavored gelatin
• 3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 teaspoons red food coloring
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray; line bottom with parchment paper. Coat the parchment with cooking spray, and set pan aside. Put sugar, corn syrup, and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring; let mixture come to a boil. Raise heat to medium-high; cook until mixture registers 260 degrees on a candy thermometer.
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle gelatin over 3/4 cup water in a heatproof bowl; let stand 5 minutes to soften. Set the bowl with the gelatin mixture over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat, and stir in extract; set aside.
3. Beat egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Whisk gelatin mixture into sugar mixture; with mixer running, gradually add to egg whites. Mix on high speed until very thick, 12 to 15 minutes.
4. Pour mixture into lined pan. Working quickly, drop dots of red food coloring across surface of marshmallow. Using a toothpick, swirl food coloring into marshmallow to create a marbleized effect. Let marshmallow stand, uncovered, at room temperature until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight. Cut into squares.
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