Tis the season – for hot chocolate. A double chocolate hot chocolate! Deep. Rich. Dark. Chocolate. Real Chocolate. And Cocoa. With Frozen Whipped Cream. Yeah, you heard me right. Best Hot Chocolate with Frozen Whipped Cream.
The Best Hot Chocolate – Double Chocolate with Frozen Whipped Cream
Of course, when you make your Hot Chocolate, you can use marshmallows if you want; try it once with Frozen Whipped Cream and you’ll never want to go back to plain, old everyday marshmallows again! Check out the “recipe” and know that until you taste that ice-cold whipping cream slowly melting into the pool of hot chocolate, you haven’t lived. Well, that’s a bit dramatic, but it’s a simple pleasure you won’t want to miss.
About Best Hot Chocolate:
This hot chocolate is an indulgence, maybe for a more grown-up taste. It’s a beautiful thing. The recipe says two servings; feel free to make more. Or feel free to take those two servings and dump them all in your giant mug and crawl into bed and sip it while you binge-watch Netflix. Or blog. Or talk to your girlfriends. And hiss like a feral cat at anyone who dares to open that door.
I co-hosted Fiesta Friday Blog Party this last week, which gives me the opportunity to rub elbows with all kinds of bloggers from around the world, all bringing their best recipes and posting them in one place. You’ll often see links at the bottom of my posts to Fiesta Friday. That’s where I ran into Pamela, The Brooklyn Farm Girl and the Double Chocolate Sea Salt Hot Cocoa she posted. Genius!
I was a bit blown away because I’ve made Hot Cocoa and I’ve made Hot Chocolate, but I’ve never combined them. Her recipe looks so good, so stop over and see it, and you should check it out, but…
In the meantime, I straight up stole her idea of adding cocoa to make double chocolate hot chocolate (say that three times fast) and upped the game on my fave Hot Chocolate. The cocoa really adds a lot of depth and dimension to my recipe. A bit of an edge, maybe, which is so wonderful because everything else is so rich.
Whipped Cream for the Freezer – Dollop or pipe whipped cream onto parchment or plastic wrap
Making Best Hot Chocolate:
I play with the dairy, depending on what I have. Milk’s a given, but a drizzle of cream or half and half at the end. Ummm. If you have some half and half or cream on hand just a little really takes your hot chocolate to the next level!
I like to use a baking chocolate in my hot chocolate of some sort or another of a good bar of chocolate. That means no little nibs left behind like you might get from chocolate chips (there are some stabilizers in them to help them keep their shape and that means they don’t always completely melt smoothly), but whatever you’ve got will work.
Whatever chocolate you prefer will work well in this recipe; anything from milk chocolate to semi to bittersweet. I’d personally tend to avoid a bar of bitter chocolate because the cocoa already has a bit of its own inherent bitterness. As a matter of fact, that touch of cocoa can take everyday old chocolate and make it taste like an expensive artisanal one in this hot chocolate.
The Best Hot Chocolate – Double Chocolate with Frozen Whipped Cream
Saving Money on Best Hot Chocolate:
Fall and winter tis the season to buy and stock up (and maybe indulge a bit) especially where baking goods are concerned. Watch the sales, use the coupons and fill up that pantry, people! 🙂 There won’t be better sales on so many baking items until Easter.
As far as chocolate, it’s often on sale during the fall/winter holidays but if you’re lucky you might find some decent chocolate half-priced after Valentine’s day that you can repurpose for your baking and make all kinds of marvelous things with.
Both cream and half and half vary wildly in price depending on when and where you buy it. If you have an Aldi nearby it’s a great place to pick it up. Generally, the buyer’s club prices are close to the Aldi price but you’ll need to buy larger containers. If you’re buying at your grocery store, stock up a bit during holiday sales; it can be up to half off. With it’s higher fat content, either cream or half and half keeps for weeks in the fridge, unopened. The cost of half and half should be roughly half the price of a container of whipping cream’ if it’s more, you’re better off buying cream and cutting it with milk, which runs about 8 cents a cup in most areas.
The Best Hot Chocolate – Double Chocolate with Frozen Whipped Cream
Best Hot Chocolate
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Beverages
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons cocoa
- 2 ounces chocolate, chopped or 6 tablespoons chocolate chips (see note)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 to 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups milk, divided
- 1/2 cup half & half, cream or a little additional milk, optional
- Frozen Whipped Cream or marshmallows for garnish
Instructions
Add cocoa, chocolate, sugar, espresso powder, if using, and a pinch of salt to a pan, preferably a pan with a slightly rounded bottom. Over medium-low heat, while whisking, add about 1/2 cup of milk and continue stirring until the chocolate has melted. Use a spatula or a spoon to reach into the “corners” of the pan.
Whisk in the remainder of the milk (but hold off on the cream) and turn the heat up to medium, continue to stir until hot but not boiling. Turn off heat and add cream, if desired.
Garnish with Frozen Whipped Cream or Marshmallows and a few gratings of chocolate, if desired.
Note: just about any chocolate will work in this recipe.
Keywords: Beverages, Chocolate, cocoa, Cream, hot chocolate, milk
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I’ll be posting this recipe at Fiesta Friday 200. Be sure to stop by and vote for your favorite recipes on Tuesday!
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