The Best Hot Chocolate Ever

Adrian and I were feeling very Christmas-y last night...but what's new because Adrian starts secretly listening to Christmas music in June, so....ANYWAY....we decided to make the world's best Hot Chocolate, ever. Please, please, please, try this hot chocolate this holiday season. You will never, ever want to go back to your boring hot chocolate in a package with the sad little dehydrated marshmallows floating miserably on top. Go make this. Listen to the hallelujah chorus and feel festive. Yum.

Adapted from Tasha Tudor's cookbook.

These are the ingredients you'll need: milk, unsweetened chocolate, sugar, water, dash of salt, vanilla and cinnamon to sprinkle on your whip cream cuz you're cool like that.

You'll need 3 cups of milk. Don't be a pussy, just go ahead and use whole milk. Extra points if you use organic milk and ding, ding, ding, winner winner, chicken dinner if you use raw milk! 

Tasha Tudor's recipe...aren't her illustrations great? 

Unwrap 2 squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and melt in a double boiler. A double boiler is a fancy way of saying throw a glass bowl on top of a pan of boiling water to melt stuff in. Cool, huh? 

Melting yumminess....yum. Actually, it's not yummy until you add sugar. Just in case you were wondering. But it WILL be yummy in a minute. 

You should always take time out of making hot chocolate to sing a spontaneous chorus of Jingle Bells. It makes you feel festive. Truly.

Guess what comes next?

Yup...while you're waiting for your milk to scald and your chocolate to melt, make your homemade whip cream. To every cup of heavy whipping cream, add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of vanilla. Beat on high till it gets all clumpy and looks like whipped cream. Just don't let it go until it becomes butter! 

You don't have to add vanilla to your whip cream, but it makes it RICH and better. Just do it, OK? 

See, this is the real deal.

Our beautiful mums stopped by to check out what we were messing up in her kitchen. Isn't she lovely? 

Anyway, your chocolate should be melted by this point and it should look all lovely and glossy.

Add your sugar and salt and mix.

Slowly add 1 cup of freshly boiled water. SLOWLY.

Put it back onto your double boiler and boil for 5 minutes.

Add chocolate mixture to your scalded milk...

Whisk your hot chocolate until it's frothy.

And serve.

Add ridiculous amounts of whip cream, sprinkle with cinnamon and...

Yumminess. We promised yumminess, right? Right.

Cheers and enjoy! 

Buckaroo Barbie's Adaption of Tasha Tudor's Hot Chocolate

3 cups of milk

2 squares Baker's unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup sugar

dash of salt

1 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/2 pint heaving whipping cream

In a saucepan, scald the milk. Over hot water, melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Stir in the sugar and salt, add the cup of boiling water very gradually, and stir until smooth. Then boil for 5 minutes. Add this mixture to the scalded milk and beat it with a whisk until foamy. Stir in the vanilla and serve in a pretty chocolate pot that you have warmed with boiling water. Whip the cream and spoon massive amounts onto each serving. Makes six 6-ounce servings. 

xo xo Liz and Adrian 

Photos via Adrian Brannan