I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but a fairly decent portion of the US is covered in white right now. And white = snow = cold.
Enter: hot chocolate. While it can’t do anything about the snow, it certainly helps with the cold.
This is one of my favorite hot chocolate recipes. Three ingredients, super easy, and satisfying in small quantities. It’s for drinking slowly and really enjoying chocolate.
I’ve made it many times with your average chocolate, but this particular time I pulled out some fancy stuff. Several weeks ago I snagged a 3-bar pack of Mast Brothers chocolate for 50% off at Crate & Barrel. Because I rarely splurge like that, it took me a while to decide to buy it (just ask Ruth… she walked back and forth across the store with me while I decided :)), but I was glad when I did.
I finally broke into it last week and turned part of one of the bars into this hot chocolate. Though it’s definitely nice in this particular application because of the concentration of chocolate, you certainly don’t need a $10 bar to enjoy this. I usually make it with Ghirardelli’s bittersweet chocolate and it’s just marvelous.
hot chocolate
recipe adapted from food52
[ serves 2-3 ]
1 ounce chocolate (semisweet or bittersweet), chopped
3 ounces boiling water
3 ounces milk
Whipped cream, for serving
Place the chocolate in a small saucepan and pour a small bit of boiling water over it. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and smooth, then stir in the rest of the water. Add the milk and turn the heat on medium. Whisk until the temperature registers about 170-180 degrees.
Pour into 2 or 3 small cups and top with whipped cream.
Note: The whole quantity is pictured in one glass here, but it definitely needs to be divided among 2-3 cups to share. It’s quite thick and rich.