Real Hot Chocolate

Hi all--

It is getting colder and I am interested in a recipe for real hot chocolate (NOT hot cocoa). I want something like what Vianne made and served in the movie Chocolat. It looked like pure melted chocolate. Maybe since the character was of Mexican decent, perhaps it had some chili flakes or powder in it? Not that I care....I just really want a luscious hot chocolate recipe!

After seeing the movie, no mix will do for me!

Thanks!
Meowzart

quote:

Originally posted by meowzart

Hi all--

It is getting colder and I am interested in a recipe for real hot chocolate (NOT hot cocoa). I want something like what Vianne made and served in the movie Chocolat. It looked like pure melted chocolate. Maybe since the character was of Mexican decent, perhaps it had some chili flakes or powder in it? Not that I care....I just really want a luscious hot chocolate recipe!
After seeing the movie, no mix will do for me!
Thanks!
Meowzart

Try this:

Mexican Chocolate

Serve with churros !

Ingredients:
3.3 oz tablet of Mexican chocolate or 3.3 oz semisweet chocolate (or,
my suggestion, 3.3 oz Ghirardelli ground chocolate)
2-1/2 cups milk
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

To make Mexican hot chocolate, break tablet of Mexican chocolate into pieces and bring it to a simmer with milk. Stir the mixture until the chocolate is melted and well-combined. Mexican chocolate is traditionally beaten to a froth with a wooden implement called a molinillo . You can imitiate the effect by putting a small amount of your chocolate at a time in a blender and briefly pulsing it.

Note: Mexican hot chocolate traditionally has cinnamon but I've never heard of putting chile in any form in it. Not all Mexican food is hot by any means. The classical chocolaty moles aren't hot (though they do contain chile).

My grandmother makes her hot chocolate with cocoa, but she puts vanilla in it or something, it is soooooo good. I tried watching her make it one time and she shooed me out of the kitchen. I will have to try again to get her recipe because it is yummy.

It 'aint homemade but another option that is a favorite in our house (by both adults and kids, alike) is Le Cirque and Dessert Circus Chef Jacques Torres' (http://www.mrchocolate.com/index.html) newer line of chocolates...

...including their scrumptious hot chocolate (made not with cocoa powder but real chocolate). Such is available both online (see web address above) or in various retail establishments (where we buy ours -- in Scotsville, Virginia near Route 11, no less).

I bought some abbuleta at wally world for 57 cents....It was good when I added some vanilla flavoring and a bit of cinnamon, but it seemed to never get smooth, I used a whisk, but never could get the chocolate to mix in well with the milk.

quote:

Originally posted by speechpeach

I bought some abbuleta at wally world for 57 cents....It was good when I added some vanilla flavoring and a bit of cinnamon, but it seemed to never get smooth, I used a whisk, but never could get the chocolate to mix in well with the milk.

If you whisk the milk into the chocolate a little at a time, it should mix better than adding the chocoltae to the milk.

Melt milk chocolate, and add warm half and half to taste. I understand that it works best with Ghiradelli, Cabbury or Godiva. Hershy for some reason doesn't do well. I also understand that for a bitter drink unsweetened chocolate with hot water that has been filtered through a coffee filter over mashed hot peppers. I have never tested either of these methods.

In France they melt the chocolate into the milk with the steam gun on the espresso machine. I prefer it to coffee in the morning. At home I heat a pot of milk to scalding and dump in chips of Belgian callebeaut chocolate using an immersion blender to make it smooth. For my kids I whisk in a few marshmallows. For older folk after supper a shot of rum seems to add an edge to it. Cheers.

This reminds me, its time to check out the Dinosaur BBQ's hot chocolate. Its like dessert in a cup, thick & rich with a touch of cinnamon, and jalpeno..MMM

Parisian Warm Chocolate

This variation on hot chocolate is based on the one served in Paris at the famed Angelina's on the Rue de Rivoli. Ultra rich and not too sweet this chocolately concoction is best appreciated in small portions.

1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
Garnish:
Sweetened cream, softly whipped
Ground cinnamon, optional

In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring the milk, cream, and sugar to a simmer together, heating just until bubbles appear around the edges of the liquid.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate, stirring to melt it completely. If necessary return the pan to low heat while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is melted. The mixture should appear smooth, evenly colored and very warm.
Serve warm in demitasse or espresso coffee cups with softly whipped cream and a shake of cinnamon if desired.
Serves 4.

This recipe works best with high quality dark chocolate. I prefer Valrhona. Makes me think of kisses on top of the Eiffel Tower and walking hand in hand along the Seine. This represents my love in and my love of Paris.

Deb, I hadn't seen this thread before, but I agree with I-95's old post. I've ordered this stuff every year for a few now, and I LOVE it. Mixed with chili.... yum.

http://www.mrchocolate.com/ecom/site/product.cfm?id=555649C2-C09F-0662-D2EB9611CB98F98D

Thanks everybody!! I will definitely check out the chocolate mixes for those nights when I am feeling lazy. But I think christy nailed it. Her quote "Makes me think of kisses on top of the Eiffel Tower and walking hand in hand along the Seine." sold me.

BT: is there a big difference between Mexican chocolate and regular chocolate? And do you have a recipe for churros?

Meowzart--although ALL good hot choc is great--Mexican style really is good!!!! and get a molinillo!!!!!get severall---there cheap---when Janie was doing grad work at UC San Diego we shopped alot south of the border and got groceries there, We tried a bunch of brands of chocolat and they were all great---sweet-rich and spicy with a bit if cinnamon---and the kids LOVED making it with molinillos!!! I remember they also had a shop that roasted coffee and had one very dark oily looking coffee that was prepared with sugar already in the process----weird but made an interesting cup!-it got my grinder sticky though!

For a Viennese style hot chocolate, melt 2 oz. grated bittersweet chocolate, the highest quality available, with 1/4 cup water. When smooth, put in a blender and add 1 cup very hot milk and blend until frothy.

I forgot, serve mit schlag.

Meowzart,
I like IBARRA's Mexican chocolat. It's in a yellow six sided box. I get it at a little Hispanic shop off RT100 on the same road as North Arundel Hospital. This already has the sugar & cinnamon in it, the package says to blend the hot milk & chocolat wedges in a blender (imersion works)

Ibarra has a web site http://www.chocoibarra.com.mx

There is a recipe for Mexican hot chocolate in the November issue of Gourmet magazine.

I just enjoyed a real shot (literally) of Nostalgia.. We were dumping some of our old,out of date MRE's from the Emergency Box that all good Californians keep ready in case the 'Big One' hits. Well Duffy likes 10 year old MRE Entrees, but we have all the accessory packets etc to get rid of... In those were a dozen or so packets of the Cocoa mix. Now I know this is not create from scratch melt-in-the-pot chocolate, but let me tell you, mixing up a quart or so of that stuff (double strength) and adding the better part of a pint of Peppermint Schnapps took me on a retro visit to a month I spent on TDY in Korea in 1961. What a great way to take the chill off a cold evening ! We used to call this mixture an 'Alpine', is that a common name for it, or is it referred to by another?

Coming from the background I'm from, my preference is hot cocoa made with the Mexican rounds. I prefer Ibarra, it's made in Mexico, and tastes better to me than the Abuelita, which is corporate owned and made in the States. One improvement Ibarra's made is, now they seal wrap the rounds, instead of wrapped like a gift with paper so they stay fresher longer.

I prefer to use half reconstituted evap milk, to which I add a tsp of real vanilla and 1/8 a tsp almond extract and some cinnamon. There's something about the taste of evap milk that compliments hot chocolate, it almost seems like a creme brulee richness, but I might be suffering the effects of 25 years of breathing smoke for a living.

If I will be adding peppermint schnapps to the mix, I forego the almond.

alittle peppermint schnapps or kahlua is great in hot chocolate...with lots of mini marshmallows!

I've found that Swiss Miss Chocolate Sensation is pretty darn good......and I've only had it with water. Guess I'll have to try real milk one of these days.

quote:

Originally posted by Peachpie9

Well, maybe hot chocolate season is over since Christmas is past, but the Ultra Rich Hot Chocolate recipe from the www.epicurious.com website is superb. It has cocoa powder in it AND bittersweet chocolate. It is simple and quick, too.

I made it with whole milk and even added a little heavy cream, which made a luscious, rich drink. Later, my daughter made it and she used 2% and no cream. It was more intensely chocolate, and I liked it better.

Hot chocolate season over after Christmas!!!????NO NO NO!! ----that was my wife---and believe me---as long as i am not in shorts and a tee shirt every day--its STILL hot chocolate season around here!

quote:

Originally posted by Al-The Mayor-Bowen


We used to call this mixture an 'Alpine', is that a common name for it, or is it referred to by another?

There used to be a restaurant in San Diego (Reuben's Plankhouse) that served a hot cocoa/peppermint schnapps concoction which they called a "Snuggly". I always thought it sounded like an 'apres-ski' drink - but that didn't stop me from enjoying one after night classes at Mesa College.

I have to laugh when I think of hot chocolate. My father loved hot chocolate. Unfortunately, he also loved to make it. I say unfortunately because here's how he made it: Boil water. While water is boiling put five tablespoons of Hershey's cocoa powder in a cup. When water reaches the boiling point, pur water into the cup. Stir. Then drink.

That's it.

Michael--and he LOVED it? Didn't he ever order out and notice a difference?

I still remember when I was a kid. That Hershey's cocoa looked SO good, I decided once just to use a spoon and eat it right out of the cannister. UGH!!!! It was horrible!! I was so bummed! Chocolate wasn't supposed to taste that way!

quote:

Originally posted by meowzart

Michael--and he LOVED it? Didn't he ever order out and notice a difference?

I still remember when I was a kid. That Hershey's cocoa looked SO good, I decided once just to use a spoon and eat it right out of the cannister. UGH!!!! It was horrible!! I was so bummed! Chocolate wasn't supposed to taste that way!

That was the way his mother made it, and no, he never ordered hot chocolate anywhere. He said they ruined it.

This is a product more than a recipe, and definitely not Mexican, but I just want to put in a word for Lake Champlain hot chocolate mix. it comes in a canister but it's actual chocolate shavings, not powder. The instructions on the package say to heat it with milk on the stove, but I cheat and just microwave the milk and then stir in the chocolate, and it seems to work fine.

You can order online from http://www.Lakechamplainchocolates.com. Ottherwise Whole Foods or a gourmet shop might carry it.

Michael,

I hope some food / beverage historian will tell us about the first hot chocolate drink experienced by Europeans. That might well have been the flavoring boiled in water. If there was any sweetner it probably would have been honey, and I don't know if any spice was added. I doubt that the old mezzo Americans had much milk in a warm climate.

I don't think that undersweetened and low milk varieties of hot chocolate or mix are so good, but do believe that some form of a chocolate drink would be drunk if we had no sugar or milk at all.

Jacques Torres, the confectionary genius often seen on various cooking shows, has a place on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn bridge where he sells hot chocolate that tastes like melted chocolate mousse. I imagine he's published the recipe in one or another of his books.