In the spirit of the season, my recipe for The Very Best Hot Chocolate Ever (or TVBHCE for short. Hah.):
I like to start with the biggest mug I can get my hands on, not because it’s required to make a successful cup, but because I’m greedy. We have a few such mugs — a heavy purple and clay one with four crude (perhaps I should call them primitive) designs in the glaze, only two of which are recognizable — a deer and a tree. It reminds me of Minnesota, so it’s especially good in winter. Then there’s one with a van Go
gh painting wrapped around the sides. Pretty, but the shape is wide, so things cool down quickly. If I’m desperate (and careful), I may go with the boldly colorful hand-painted mug from Italy. Trouble is, the microwave is involved, and that mug gets blasted hot for some reason — tough on the fingers, tough on the lips.
Once you’ve got your mug, put the teapot on to boil. Then grab a big soup spoon. Heap the spoon with unsweetened cocoa, fair trade and organic — easily available nearly everywhere, now. It’s worth it. Cocoa growers really get screwed unless there’s a system to ensure decent pay. With decent pay comes education, health, equity, and less American involvement trying to mediate complicated social upheaval in cocoa places — Africa, Latin America,… Don’t measure. Don’t worry. Err on more. It’s good for you.
Add a few good dashes of cinnamon. It’ll attach to the sides of the mug a little. Ignore that. Same with a dash of cayenne (yes). Add a pinch of salt. That’s your base.
Now, fetch some milk, and listen to me: make sure it has some fat in it. None of this skinny skim stuff. Two percent at the least. If it’s really cold outside and you’re feeling festive, make it half-n-half. I am lucky enough to live within easy shipping distance of Burnt Chimney, where an old family dairy still puts their grass-fed cow’s milk into returnable glass bottles. The best. Pour slowly just a splash of milk into the powder base. Stir that rigorously. It’s going to be demoralizing at first — the powder resolutely separate from the milk. Persist. See?! Sludge. You want that. If it’s super thick, like mortar, add a wee bit more milk, and stir again. You should have a very thick slurry at the bottom of the mug. Now add milk half of the way up the mug. Stir, stir, stir.
Pop your mug into the microwave for whatever length of time will get it good and hot. You be the judge. Start ‘er up. Your water should be boiling or near it by now. Super. Pour it over the now-hot milk mix, and stir. Finally, get some real maple syrup, any grade. Drizzle in the syrup a tablespoon or so at a time to taste. I don’t like super sweet hot chocolate, so I put about one of those soup spoon’s worth in. But it’s your cocoa. Go crazy.
