Real Hot Chocolate
Rich, simple, made with real chocolate. How drinking chocolate evolved from Mesoamerican cacao drinks to cafe classics, plus our easy recipe for rich hot chocolate made with real chocolate.
A cup of dark hot chocolate: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0
A drink older than chocolate bars
For most of its history chocolate was a drink, not a bar. In Mesoamerica cacao was ground and mixed with water, chiles, maize and flowers, then poured from height to create foam. Europeans in the 1600s and 1700s sweetened it and added milk, and chocolate houses became fashionable meeting places in London and elsewhere. Solid bars only became common in the 1800s.
Hot cocoa or hot chocolate?
Hot cocoa is usually made from cocoa powder, sugar and milk, so it is lighter. Hot chocolate, or drinking chocolate, uses melted chocolate, so it is richer and thicker. Spanish-style chocolate is thick enough to dip churros into, Italian cioccolata calda is almost like pudding, and Mexican hot chocolate is often flavoured with cinnamon and frothed with a wooden whisk called a molinillo.
Tips for a great cup
Use a chocolate you like eating, chopped finely so it melts evenly. Whisk constantly and do not let the milk boil hard. A pinch of salt sharpens the flavour, and a small spoon of cocoa powder deepens it. For a thicker Spanish style, whisk in a teaspoon of cornflour mixed with a little cold milk and simmer for a minute.
Make it your own
Try a strip of orange zest, a cinnamon stick, a pinch of chilli, a drop of peppermint extract or a spoon of peanut butter. Top with whipped cream or marshmallows. Oat and other plant milks work well; choose a creamy one for the best texture.
Make Real Hot Chocolate at home
Ingredients
- 500 ml whole milk (or a creamy plant milk)
- 70 g dark chocolate (60 to 70 percent), finely chopped
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 to 2 tbsp sugar, to taste
- Small pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- Whipped cream or marshmallows to serve (optional)
Method
- Warm the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until steaming, with small bubbles at the edge.
- Whisk in the cocoa powder, sugar and salt until smooth.
- Take the pan off the heat, add the chopped chocolate and leave for 1 minute, then whisk until fully melted.
- Return to low heat and whisk for 1 to 2 minutes until slightly thickened; do not boil.
- Stir in the vanilla, taste for sweetness and pour into mugs. Top as you like.
- A cup of dark hot chocolate: Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0
Text written by Chocolate Era.
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