I’m not 100% sure why, at the first hint of snow I end up turning to a hot chocolate to cheer myself up, as I am an avid coffee drinker the rest of the time: it must be the combination of the delicious smell of warm chocolate, as well as its proven benefits of improving moods with its Theobromine, Phenylethylalanine and Tryptophan components that makes this my go to drink on a day like today.
I’ve been playing with ways of making a hot chocolate, and I do believe this could be my new favourite, as it ends up a super, velvet smooth hot drink, perfect for helping with those early in the week, dreary weather blues! You can keep it simple with our rich, Dark Classic chocolate, or you can be a little more loving and try our dreamy Salted Caramel or smooth Classic Oat M!lk flakes, all of which will satisfy those cravings.
How to make the perfect hot chocolate method:
Pop 40g of chocolate in the microwave in an appropriate dish and heat on short bursts until melted. In the meantime, in a pan, heat up 200ml of milk, until scalded, not boiling. I needed to check out the difference between scalding and boiling, as it is one of those expressions I was very aware of, but not quite sure of the true definition, and I can now share my new found knowledge with you! To scald or scalding means to heat the liquid until just below boiling point, no higher than 180 degrees. In making my hot chocolate, because I didn’t have a thermometer handy, this meant that once the milk started to show those tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan, I took it to be scalded. Turn off the heat, and pour the melted chocolate into the milk, and whisk, creating an emulsion, binding the milk and chocolate together. A stunning, velvet smooth, hot chocolate is now yours to enjoy!
Explore our full range of drinking chocolates by clicking here.
