Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Hot cocoa

If you like chai tea, or chocolate combined with cinnamon or chilies, then you are going to love this.

I took a picture, which looked like crap, so I won't bother with it. I also modified it from a recipe from Michael Smith's Chef at Home...

Super awesome spicy aromatic hot cocoa

-milk (I poured some 1% milk into the mug I wanted to use, then poured it into the pot...this mug usually will hold approx. 3c of coffee).
- cocoa powder (I used 2 heaping tbs of Fry's cocoa)
- brown sugar (1-2 tbs)
- vanilla powder (a Greek product - I didn't want to use artificial vanilla, whereas Michael Smith calls for real vanilla extract)
- dark chocolate (I took a block of Baker's Secret semi-sweet baking chocolate, which is a smallish cube, and cut/shaved it all up into small bits, and threw it into the milk)
- one cinnamon stick, broken into a few pieces
- 3-5 cardamom pods, cracked
- 3-5 whole cloves
- sprinkle of powdered nutmeg
- sprinkle of powdered allspice
- sprinkle of freshly-cracked black pepper
- sprinkle of cayenne pepper

Heat this up at a low temperature, whisking often. Strain (I have a mesh strainer that fits right on top of my mugs), and drink slowly, enjoying the symphony of flavours dancing around in your mouth!

5 comments:

  1. this is a great winter warmer - i'm still waiting for the cold weather to come along to enjoy so many spices altogether

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  2. There were so many spice flavours going on that it was hard to pick out just one! Except maybe "clove"/"allspice"...I think ginger could work in it too, or something licorice-y.

    I need to make hot mulled cider, but I've mostly finished off the container I bought at the market on the weekend (we have at least two local cider producers, and the kind I bought before is fairly new company that does an unpasteurized cider)...it's juuuuust getting cold enough here some days that you want a warm beverage, at least in the mornings and evenings (we're seeings highs of 15-20 degrees right now...and it rained all day too boot...).

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  3. I don't think I'll succeed, but it sounds very yummy ^^

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  4. Yeah but den einai dyskolo! You just stir everything in a pot till it's a drinkably hot temperature, and then strain it...you could even just use ground spices and skip that step. The simplest version would be to put a dash of cinnamon or cayenne pepper in your instant hot chocolate, much less depth of flavour but faster and less mess! (...the kitchen always looks like a tornado came through after I cook anything...)

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  5. Looks like we both have a a love of MS as well as Chai:D

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