This recipe is crazy good. There is no other way to put it.
This is not the sickly sweet hot chocolate that you find everywhere in the U.S. It is a spicy version much more common in Hispanic countries — though there is a fair amount of variation from country to country in how they spice it. This version is heavy on cloves and cinnamon, with just a hint of cayenne pepper, carefully balanced so as not to overwhelm the chocolate.
Fair warning: once you have tasted this, there is no going back. It will ruin all other hot chocolate mixes for you for the rest of your life. Fortunately, it’s quick to make — and oh so worth it.
Also, don’t fool yourself: this is dessert in a mug.
Makes 3 8-oz. servings. Preparation time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (around 70% cacao)
- 3 cups (24 ounces) 2% milk (though any milk will work)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne (red) pepper
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
Chop the chocolate into fine pieces and set aside.
Pour the milk into a small saucepan. Stir the cinnamon, cloves, pepper and brown sugar. The spices won’t dissolve fully — some will just float at the top. Don’t worry, this will fix itself as we heat the milk and mix in the chocolate.
Heat the saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until it reaches about 185 degrees F. Don’t let it boil, and don’t let the milk scald. Use a thermometer to check the milk’s temperature along the way.
Remove the saucepan from the burner. Pour in the chopped chocolate and stir it just enough to submerge the chocolate. Let the milk-chocolate mixture sit for two minutes. We’re going to let the hot milk do the work for us: melting the chocolate without cooking it. Just be patient: after two minutes, it will all be melted and ready to mix with the milk.
With a whisk, stir the mixture until the chocolate is fully incorporated and it becomes a slightly thickened, silky dark brown. This is where the magic happens. It will take a couple of minutes — just keep going.
Pour into mugs and serve immediately.
Tips and suggestions:
- Make this recipe your own: mess with the proportions of cinnamon, cloves, and pepper.
- If you want, you can pre-combine the dry ingredients (including the chocolate) and store them in an airtight container. It helps to add the spices early so that their flavors can infuse the milk, but it’s not required; you can add them at the same time as the milk instead.
