At the weekend the oven stayed cold here, instead, there was endless hot chocolate. It just goes so perfectly with “Love doesn’t need a holiday” – my favourite weekend film, and the oven deserves a little break in the run-up to the event after cookies, stollen and Christmas cakes and muffins, doesn’t it?
This hot chocolate right here is the real, really good stuff. For cold days, for Advent evenings, when your heart freezes, thoughts are racing through your head like crazy and you can’t find a place to sit when your foot hurts or you’re longing for something.
The kind of hot chocolate that fills you up, makes you feel like your inner chocolate Santa Claus (or Mrs.) as you sip it, which inevitably makes your eyes close in pleasure, like Jude Law kissing you in person and the rest of the teeming world out there in slow motion can move. The hot chocolate that you sometimes need like hot chicken noodle soup and – I think – actually triggers physical feelings of happiness. Because: this is real chocolate. And cream. And whole milk.
Pure hygge, as they say, today. If you want, you can add espresso here to tease out the chocolate note a bit more or bathe chai tea in the warm cream beforehand for a bit of oriental hygge (see recipe supplement).
Here is the recipe for drinkable happiness:
CHOCO VS CHOCO
INGREDIENTS
225g Valrhona chocolate
350ml whole milk
120ml cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar
optional: 1 tbsp instant espresso powder
some whipped cream, lightly whipped and cocoa for garnish
PREPARATION:
Chop the chocolate very finely. Fine chopping is important so that it can later be melted under the warm cream and milk mixture.
Mix milk, cream, powdered sugar and possibly espresso powder in a saucepan. Then heat over medium heat, but please do not bring to the boil. When bubbles form on the edge and it begins to smoke a little, remove the pot from the stove.
Add the chocolate and stir slowly with a wooden spoon until the chocolate has dissolved.
Pour the hot chocolate into two mugs.
Pour lightly whipped cream on top and garnish with cocoa powder.
For chai hot chocolate, heat a chai tea bag with creamy milk. Then remove before adding the chocolate, gently squeezing the tea into the cream.
