Hot Chocolate

[mrose]

I was able to buy 50# of milk chocolate at an extremely good price. I want to use it to make hot chocolate mixes for this winter. It is a bit too sweet for a good mix. I would like to add either a bittersweet chocolate (60 - 70%) or unsweetened chocolate liquor. Does anyone have an idea of a good ratio of dark to milk chocolate as a starting point?

[aguynamedrobert]

How rich are you wanting to make the chocolate? I always use cocoa powder because I don't like how thick drinking chocolate is but some people like that. I would probably do 3/4 dark chocolate to 1/4 milk chocolate if making a drinking chocolate.

Here is my hot chocolate recipe...

20 grams - Guittard Cocoa Rouge Cocoa Powder

284 grams - Whole Milk

40 grams - Sugar

Let us know what ratio you choose and how it comes out...

Have a great day everybody...

[mrose]

How rich are you wanting to make the chocolate? I always use cocoa powder because I don't like how thick drinking chocolate is but some people like that.  I would probably do 3/4 dark chocolate to 1/4 milk chocolate if making a drinking chocolate.

Here is my hot chocolate recipe...

20 grams - Guittard Cocoa Rouge Cocoa Powder

284 grams - Whole Milk

40 grams - Sugar

Let us know what ratio you choose and how it comes out...

Have a great day everybody...

←

I want to be able to sell this as a powdered mix, just add milk & cook

[etalanian]

Is the chocolate that you bought ground chocolate? How are you planning on packaging this - with chocolate chunks in the package, or ground, or what?

I agree with Robert; you probably want a high ratio of dark chocolate in the mix. I wouldn't use cocoa liquor, because it is not always as smooth as slightly sweetened chocolate. It's not always conched the same.

As Robert said, let us know what you choose and how it turns out.

Eileen

Edited September 8, 2007 by etalanian (log)

[mrose]

I will be shredding it with a food processor & mixing it with powdered whole milk & spices. This works well & it melt smoothly in scalded milk. I have zipper pouch bags that you can heat seal after filling.

Edited September 8, 2007 by mrose (log)

[aguynamedrobert]

Hey Mark,

You are going to shred the chocolate in the food processor? Arn't you scared of it melting? How are you going to do it? I know of companies that put ground chocolate in with cocoa powder to make it thicker and more chocolatey but they have machines that are made for it...how do you plan to do it? I would love to see how you accomplish it...

Have a good one Mark...

[mrose]

Hey Mark,

You are going to shred the chocolate in the food processor? Arn't you scared of it melting? How are you going to do it? I know of companies that put ground chocolate in with cocoa powder to make it thicker and more chocolatey but they have machines that are made for it...how do you plan to do it? I would love to see how you accomplish it...

Have a good one Mark...

←

Last year I used the cheese shredder blade & didn't have a problem. You have to stop every once in a while to make sure things don't get too warm. The harder problem was finding powdered whole milk at a reasonable price.

[gfron1]

Shokinag is a company that adds chocolate chunks into their powder with great results. I have a local woman who sells powders that have won her numerous awards for her green chile chocolate and she just uses cheap ingredients - so defining your niche would be really useful for this conversation.

[Art]

As Robert said, it all depends on the taste you like. I'd probably start off with 50% milk and 50% dark. For me, I usually use:

2 ounces dark chocolate (70%)

11 ounces whole milk

1 tablespoon cream

The measurements aren't exact for the milk -- I just fill up a coffee mug with milk and then dump it into my pan. The standard mug size is 11oz.

You really can't go wrong as there is no "right" or "wrong" recipe only what you like or don't like.

-Art

[Stephanie Wallace]

In my experience the best results are achieved when the sugar content is in the neighborhood of %30 to %35. Valrhona has finally release versions of their Grand Crus sans sugar in the U.S.; Araguani would work very well in this case. If you are trying to adjust ratios, remember that you cannot simply reverse the percentage to approximate the sugar content of your milk chocolate due to the additional solids. You must look at the nutritional information.

[Redsugar]

“As a rule, look for the darkest milk chocolate you can find…. The pronounced caramel flavor from the milk is delicious. The premium milk chocolates from Cluizel, El Rey, Valhrona, Callebaut, E. Guittard, and Lindt are all excellent.” Source: Fran Bigelow & Helene Siegel, Pure Chocolate: Divine Desserts and Sweets from the Creator of Fran’s Chocolates (Broadway, 2004). The Michel Cluizel Grand Lait registers at 45 percent!

“Some folks judge chocolate by its combined percentage of chocolate liquor and cocoa butter (the more, the better), but I find that more doesn’t necessarily mean superior chocolate. The quality is just as important as the percentage…. Trust to your own taste.”

Source: Richard Donnelly, "Uncommonly Good Hot Chocolate" (Fine Cooking #36, p. 46)

“Cheap Chocolate is easily identified by its overpowering smell of vanilla and sugar, and good-quality chocolate is all about wondrous aromas – the woody, spicy, and floral smells….” Source: Chloé Doutre-Roussel, The Chocolate Connoisseur (Home, 2006), p. 82.

“Surely the bean has transcended time; from the bland and thin to the spice-scented, easing into a sweet solace, laced with milk and sugar – sometimes honey. Hot chocolate has appeared in various forms: as an aphrodisiac, a Bohemian fancy, a choice targeted to and preferred by children, and, now, an appealing elixir catering to the weakness of milk adult dependency an those warm liquid memories of childhood.” Source: Carol M. Newman, “An Influential Elixir—Hot Chocolate” (Art Culinaire > Winter 2003)

I use either Cocoa Camino Milk Chocolate (35% cocoa) or Green & Black's.

~ Lawrence

Malted Hot Chocolate as concocted at Manhattan’s Chocolate Bar:

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped

¼ cup water

¼ cup heavy cream

½ cup skim milk

1½ Tbsps malted milk powder

After the servings are poured, they’re topped with whipped cream and a sprinkling of crushed malted milk balls.