The Ten
Hot Chocolate Indulgence
Variations on the classic that will keep you warm until spring
Let’s get something straight: Hot chocolate and hot cocoa are not the same. Hot chocolate is made with real chocolate; hot cocoa is a watered-down version based on cocoa powder. You’ll understand the difference once you savor this indulgent recipe for basic hot chocolate. Then try your hand at any of these riffs.
1. Coconut Hot Chocolate. Switching out the cream for coconut milk makes for a transporting drink that’s something like a warm, chocolate daiquiri.
2. Chile Hot Chocolate. Although it seems like a lot, the half teaspoon of cayenne is just enough to add a kick of spice without overwhelming the chocolate.
3. Double Anise Hot Chocolate. The combination of the slightly bitter star anise with the sweet, licorice-y anise seed gives this recipe a haunting and addictive flavor.
4. Amaretto Hot Chocolate. Almonds and chocolate are a delicious pairing in candy, so it makes perfect sense that spiking hot chocolate with sweet, almond-flavored amaretto liqueur would be tasty, too.
5. Five-Spice Hot Chocolate. Chinese Five-Spice Powder is an intense mix most often used in savory meat dishes. Whisked into hot chocolate with an orange-scented rum from Martinique, it makes for an unexpected—and delicious—fusion.
6. Calvados-Tarragon Hot Chocolate. Dried tarragon may be the last thing that crosses your mind when you think “hot chocolate,” but mix it with the French apple-flavored brandy Calvados, and you’ve got a lovely, anise-y, apple-y hot chocolate.
7. Peppermint Hot Chocolate. We infused this hot chocolate with crushed peppermint candies to bring a little holiday cheer into the rest of the year.
8. Caramel Hot Chocolate. Remember Rolos? If you’re as much of a devotee to that classic caramel-chocolate combo as I am, then this caramel hot chocolate should do you right.
9. Almond Butter Hot Chocolate. Sure, almond butter takes the richness up a notch, but your health isn’t something you should stop and consider while you’re sipping hot chocolate.
10. Banana Hot Chocolate. Speaking of health, this list is heavy on the chocolate, liqueur, and candy and light on the fruit. This recipe blends in a whole banana—just like a smoothie, only chocolaty!
CHOW’s The Ten column appears every Tuesday.
Aïda Mollenkamp is a food editor at CHOW.
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I often add amaretto to hot chocolate. It's a no-brainer.
A few other variations I love:
-cinnamon (simple & obvious)
-coffee (again simple & obvious)
-raspberries (available frozen, makes a delicious accent!)
-other red berries like cranberries or strawberries
-overloading the drink with cocoa: use a LOT for a thick, dark drink, full of antioxidants
-sweetening with molasses: rich without being heavy
-sweetening with maple syrup, or adding maple extract
-rum or rum extract
-dutch-process cocoa instead of 'regular' requires less sweetening (it's less bitter), but some people find it changes the flavour in other ways
-peanut butter (Reece's peanut butter cups in a mug!)
-ground flax: health benefit, but also thickens the drink nicely
-maca: some people hate it, but I find half a teaspoon adds a nice nuttiness
These variations also raise the dangerous possibility of chocolateless drinks! What if banana and cinnamon were used (even with peanut butter), without cocoa? Yes, I've done this; it's good, heretical, and a total tangent to its origins: hot chocolate. :-)
In college, when my friends and I would finish work on snowy nights, before we went sledding after midnight, we'd fix thermoses of instant hot chocolate and add whatever booze we had in the office or the kitchen. Some of our more successful experiments were Rumple Minze (super strong minty schnapps), Black Haus (super strong raspberry schnapps), Jack Daniel's, or Captain Morgan. 99 Bananas (which tastes like banana-flavored turpentine), though, was a mistake we would not make again.
It's even better if you use cocoa powder AND grated chocolate - the cocoa adds a bottom note which really rounds out the flavor, which can taste a little cloying if you only use bar chocolate.
There's a Pierre Herme recipe for the above in Jeffrey Steingarten's book "It Must've Been Something I Ate"
I love a little Baileys Irish Cream stirred into my cup.
Great suggestions, Lemon Curry!
Call me crazy, but I like to mix half a mug hot chocolate (or hot cocoa, even) with half a mug strongly brewed tea, either English breakfast or Earl Grey. Like a mocha for us non-coffee-drinkers. The tea flavors really compliment the chocolate, and add a touch of bitterness. I discovered this in high school when I went to make a cup of tea and realized there was no sugar, so added a packet of Swiss Miss instead, and have been hooked ever since - though you can definitely do better than the Swiss Miss.