Hubby & I went to our friends’ house Christmas Evening and brought the makings for the decadent hot chocolate recipe I found in the The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Since the cookbook is 3-ring binder style, I took the hot chocolate page out in preparation to bring it with me, but I apparently set it down as I picked up the grocery bag. So I knew the ingredients, and I’d glanced at the recipe. Rather than walking 4 blocks back home to retrieve the recipe, I just went for it. Here’s what I did:
Ingredients:
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoons Hershey’s Dutch-processed/dark chocolate powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- more cream, sugar & vanilla for whipped cream
- Irish Cream
Directions:
- Combine milk, cream, chocolate powder, sugar, & vanilla in a saucepan and heat to boiling on the stove top
- After the milk mixture is hot, remove from heat & stir in chocolate chips. Whisk until melted.
- Meanwhile, have one of your friends that you’re hanging out with whip some of the cream for topping. After the cream forms soft peaks, add sugar and vanilla to taste.
- Spoon the hot chocolate into individual mugs and add Irish Cream to your hearts’ content. Stir and top with whipped cream. Enjoy!
In the original recipe, the vanilla was added off heat along with the chocolate chips and there was more chocolate powder (2 tablespoons instead of 1). I’m not sure how much difference it might have made, but I will say that our cocoa was delicious. It’s definitely a special treat (whole milk and heavy cream = rich cocoa!). I think I’ll be adding this hot chocolate recipe to my traditional holiday list. Now I just need to get some Sweet Demitasse Cups and Saucers to serve this in so we don’t all get coronaries!