It’s cold outside, and since it’s after Thanksgiving, I finally have a Christmas tree in my house. That means there’s nothing better for an evening than to light a candle, make hot cocoa, and sit in front of the tree (while blogging about hot chocolate, of course).
I’ve tried a few different recipes for hot cocoa and hot chocolate made from actual milk (as opposed to a powdered mix, which I also make sometimes). This time I decided to try the Ellie Krieger Hot Chocolate recipe from Food Network. How does this compare to the Hot Cocoa recipe I made at the beginning of November? This one took a full cup of milk, 2 teaspoons each cocoa powder, sugar, and water, and a tiny amount of vanilla extract. The other Hot Cocoa recipe took ¾ cup milk, a full tablespoon each of cocoa powder, sugar, and milk or cream, and no vanilla.
So, tonight’s recipe has more milk, less cocoa and sugar, and a little vanilla. And a cinnamon stick. I heated 1% milk on the stove with a cinnamon stick. While I waited for it to begin to bubble around the edges, I mixed together the cocoa powder, sugar, and water in a mug. I poured the hot milk over the chocolate slurry, stirred well, and added a quarter teaspoon of vanilla.
This was fine. This is a good everyday cup of hot chocolate, since it doesn’t have too much extra sugar. I liked the amount of sweetness in this mug of chocolate. It’s a good cup of cocoa to have if you don’t want your cocoa too chocolatey. I liked the depth the vanilla extract gave it. The hint of cinnamon was subtle, and I’m not sure if I’d go through the trouble of using a cinnamon stick next time. This was an unobtrusive cup of hot chocolate, but for a real chocolate fix I’d try doubling or perhaps even tripling the amount of cocoa powder in it.
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