#5 - Hot Chocolate

Well, it's winter in these parts and that means runny noses, snow days, mittens, and hot chocolate. And we're not talking of the Swiss Miss variety. Gone are the days of brown powder and dehydrated marshmallows. We've been trying to make more grown-up hot chocolates, and this recipe comes Café Mozart, a famous Viennese cafe - Austria, not Virginia, of course.

Hot Chocolate

From In Mama's Kitchen The Café Mozart hot chocolate recipe uses few ingredients, making it easy to make on a cold winter's night.Most people invest in a good coffee maker and a tea pot for their kitchens. While we have both of those, we've got one step forward. For Christmas last year, Johnny gave Emily the ultimate kitchen appliance- a hot chocolate maker from Bialetti. Instead of having to heat the milk and chocolate stove top like in the old days, we can just throw all the ingredients together, push a button, and get an amazing mug of frothed hot chocolate in a matter of minutes.
Both bitter and unsweetened chocolate were needed to make the hot chocolate. We decided to go all out and used Ghirardelli. If you're gonna make something rich, you might as well make it ridiculously rich. The quality of chocolate can definitely make hot chocolate even that much better.
The final mug was delicious! It was chocolatey, rich, thick, and frothy. We obviously topped our hot chocolate with whipped cream, which helped balance the richness of the chocolate. While it was so easy to make in our machine, you can use the same recipe on the stove as well.
Here's the hot chocolate recipe (Makes 1 Serving):

Ingredients

• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1 tsp confectioners' sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Whipped cream (optional)
  

Preparation

1. In a food processor, combine the chocolates, sugar, and salt. Process on high just until the chocolates are are finely ground.
2. Heat the milk over medium-low heat in a medium saucepan to just under a boil.
3. Add in the chocolate mixture, and continue cooking. Stir constantly until the mixture thickens slightly, for about 5 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
5. Pour into a mug, top with whipped cream, and serve immediately.

Or just buy a Bialetti hot chocolate maker!