Hot Chocolate

[Schielke]

I recently had a great cup (more like a bowl) of european hot chocolate at Le Pichet here in Seattle. It was thick, rich, and intensely chocolate flavored. The waitress said it consisted of cocoa powder, cream and sugar.

Does anybody have a specific repice that they know turns out a product like this? It was so thick it coated the spoon we had to eat it. Mmmmmmmmmm.

As a side note I was searching the net for recipies and found this awesome recipe from Jamie Oliver!!!! He is so creative!

This a great way to make the best hot chocolate, cappuccino or frothy milk drinks at home without having to buy any expensive machinery. All you need is a good-sized thermos flask or a plastic jug with a screw-top lid. I've even made pukka ovaltine like this!

This takes around 3 or 4 minutes to make.

1 pint milk

2 tablespoons the best hot chocolate powder

A handful of marshmallows

Wow! is that all I need to make hot chocolate!!!! awesome!

Ben

[SobaAddict70]

he's still The Evil One, by any stretch of the imagination...

heh

SA

[stellabella]

I visited Paris for the first time back in February. I was there for a weekend, and Saturday morning after I got dressed I headed straight for Laduree [via the Eiffel Tower and Sacre Couer]; I was so profoundly moved by the hot chocolate that I spent the next several months trying to duplicate it at home.

The first suggestion I have is for you to read MFK Fisher's translation of Brillat-Savarin's Physiology of Taste--he describes how to make hot chocolate and she adds her own foot-noted two cents' wirth as well.

The bottom line is that you have to use good chocolate. I haven't experimented with lots of different chocolates--for one I don't have access to purveyors and for two I don't want to get into buying stuff through the mail til I have paid off my home equity loan.

So what I've found works nicely is Lindt 70% cocoa, very dark, bitter, and only slightly sweet. Melt this bar in a glass pot over very low heat, stirring constantly. Add a little milk at a time, as the bar dissolves. Keep adding the milk til your hot chocolate reaches the desired consistency.

This is an intense high, by the way. Be prepared to ZOING afterwards.

[stellabella]

I'm assuming that Jamie Oliver's recipe is a joke, but mine isn't

Once you've had that European style hot chocolate, your life can never be the same.

[Schielke]

I'm assuming that Jamie Oliver's recipe is a joke, but mine isn't

Once you've had that European style hot chocolate, your life can never be the same.

Yeah, that was a joke. I couldnt believe it passed as a recipe.

Thanks for the actual recipe though!

Good lord.

Ben

[stellabella]

Good lord.

yes

[jaybee]

Angelina's Tea Room on the Rue Royale has been famous for its melted chocolate served with thick whipped cream. I found an envelope with Angelina's mix once at Dean & Deluca and since found several other prepared mixes that produce a thick almost pudding like consistency of rich bitter sweet chocolate. Here in New York, Avenue and SQC serve a cup very much like this. I agree, once you drink that stuff, it's good bye to the rest.

[Fat Guy]

I'm surprised a good cup was achieved with only cocoa powder. The viscosity of the hot chocolate served at Angelina's, Laduree, et al., comes in part from the use of actual melted chocolate.

[tsquare]

Chocolate a la Taza is one brand of Spanish hot chocolate available from The Spanish Table - cooks up to a pudding like consistency. I believe there is some form of starch in these products.

[jaybee]

OK Ben, I found the recipe for a hot chocolate that is based on Angelina's. I always have at least one cup when I go to Paris.

This variation on hot chocolate is based on the one served in Paris at the famed Angelina's on the Rue de Rivoli.

1 cup whole milk

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Garnish:

Sweetened cream, softly whipped

Ground cinnamon, optional

1. In a small saucepan set over medium-high heat, bring the milk, cream, and sugar to a simmer together, heating just until bubbles appear around the edges of the liquid.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate, stirring to melt it completely. If necessary return the pan to low heat while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the chocolate is melted. The mixture should appear smooth, evenly colored and very warm.

3. Serve warm in demitasse or espresso coffee cups with softly whipped cream and a shake of cinnamon if desired.

Serves 4.

City Bakery in NYC serves a hot chocolate that is compared with this. So, as I noted earlier, does Scott Campbell at SQC and Avenue Restaurant bith on Columbus Ave.

Here'sa Angelina's web site: Angelina's

[Sandra Levine]

A friend who wrote a book, Bittersweet Journey, that explores the connection between sex and chocolate,* was told that Angelina's chocolate is made by bringing 2 cups of milk to the boil, then lowering the flame and stirrring in 5 ounces of Valrhona Manjari until the chocolate melts and the drink is as thick as you would like. No cream. No added sugar.

*a connection that's obvious when you drink Angelina's hot chocolate

[jaybee]

Here's the recipe from Agelina's web site. It calls for water and chocolate or milk and chocolate. I think they are using a mix here.

140 G bag

Boil 1/4 liter water.Slowly pour bag contents in the boiling water and stir.When the chocolate has the desired consistency, serve immediately.To obtain even creamier chocolate, boil the mixture a few seconds while constantly stirring.If you want less thick chocolate, add a bit of boiling water.(If you prefer, you may also use milk instead of water to make your hot chocolate.)

 

For a single cup of hot chocolate

PBoil 13 cl water. Add 70 g of chocolate to the boiling water and stir.When the chocolate has the desired consistency, serve immediately.To obtain even creamier chocolate, boil the mixture a few seconds while constantly stirring.If you want less thick chocolate, add a bit of boiling water.(If you prefer, you may also use milk instead of water to make your hot chocolate.)

[Sandra Levine]

I remember that mix being sold at at Dean & DeLuca, but I never tried it and I don't know if it is still being carried.

[jaybee]

I remember that mix being sold at at Dean & DeLuca, but I never tried it and I don't know if it is still being carried.

I looked for it and could not find it. The counterman had not seen it in a while. It made great chocolate. But I think you can get the same with just melting the right stuff as in the recipe above.

[Suvir Saran]

Here in New York, Avenue and SQC serve a cup very much like this.  I agree, once you drink that stuff, it's good bye to the rest.

Ditto!

SQC, serves the best hot chocolate ever. Several famous and multi-Michelin stars are now known to stop by Scott Campbells restaurant to sip his now world famous hot chocolate.

Not made with cocoa powder alone, this is delicious. As good as Hot Chocolate can get. And no packaged mix will ever come close.

Avenue was where Scott first served his famous Hot Chocolate, but he is no longer associated with Avenue, but many of his signature dishes are still sold by them.

[Suvir Saran]

I'm surprised a good cup was achieved with only cocoa powder. The viscosity of the hot chocolate served at Angelina's, Laduree, et al., comes in part from the use of actual melted chocolate.

Scott Campbell uses A LOT of actual melted chocolate.

[Suvir Saran]

Angelina's Tea Room on the Rue Royale has been famous for its melted chocolate served with thick whipped cream. I found an envelope with Angelina's mix once at Dean & Deluca .....

My problem with the package you can buy is that it does not come close to the experience of sipping it in Paris at the much famous Angelina's Tea Room. There is something amazing about the air there... Looking at so many other cups of hot chocolate being served around the room.... It cannot be lived in a NYC apartment....Alas!

[oraklet]

not quite the same thing, but nice: melt butter, add cocoa and sugar, stir and mix, add hot milk, slowly. perhaps a wee bit of vanilla in the milk.

[Jon Tseng]

There's also (what I presume to be) a pretty authentic recipe in Rose Levy Berenbaum's book about the Bernachons

Off the top of my head it's half and half milk and heavy cream. Can't remember the chocolate quantities but I suspect you can do chocolate and sugar to taste

the chocolate would be you're standard posh 70% jobbie (Lindt Excellence is a good compromise between cost and quality)

J

[Suvir Saran]

the chocolate would be you're standard posh 70% jobbie (Lindt Excellence is a good compromise between cost and quality)

I had bought some in Paris to work with.. and have never used it.... Was not sure how good it was... But I was impressed that they had Lindt as an option while most of our stores have Bakers and Nestle... How does Lindt compare to those two?

[Jon Tseng]

I haven't tried those two, but during my chocolate-groupie stage I had a fairly decent collection of artisanal 70%+ bars and the Lindt stacked up pretty well. Certainly better than such illustrious names as Hediard - and I preferred it to the Valhrona too. For a product which is far more mass-produced than the others I think the quality is excellent. I suspect if it did so well again artisanal bars it would give the Nestle and Bakers a good run for their money.

J

PS FYI the ones which I liked better than the Lindt were Bonnat, Bernachon and a fantastic bar I found in Geneva called Rohr.

PPS Although sometimes for cooking - especially recipes such as truffles where I don't add sugar - I blend the Lindt half/half with a "normal" dark chocolate to temper the bitterness

[stellabella]

i use the lindt 70% cocoa mass bar, or another brand of 70%, like Green and Black, because I prefer the hot chocolate to be more on the chocolate side as opposed to the sweet--i find the bittersweetness very pleasing. i add no sugar.

[Simon Majumdar]

At no point in this thread have I seen any mention of adding a shot of Harvey's Bristol Cream to the mix. I am assuming that this is an oversight as hot choc without a shot of the good stuff ( Jamesons works well also ) is pointless.

for the record,

1 or 2 bars Green & Blacks ( any flavour )

1 small carton single cream

1/4 pint of milk

1 shot sherry or Jamesons ( or, at a pinch, Bushmills )

Melt choc in a bowl over water. When it is melted, add cream to desired consistency and then thin a little with milk. Add shot of sherry and then drink while watching re-runs of Morse, Poirot or Jeeves & Wooster.

S

[Suvir Saran]

I haven't tried those two, but during my chocolate-groupie stage I had a fairly decent collection of artisanal 70%+ bars and the Lindt stacked up pretty well.  Certainly better than such illustrious names as Hediard - and I preferred it to the Valhrona too.  For a product which is far more mass-produced than the others I think the quality is excellent.  I suspect if it did so well again artisanal bars it would give the Nestle and Bakers a good run for their money.

J

PS FYI the ones which I liked better than the Lindt were Bonnat, Bernachon and a fantastic bar I found in Geneva called Rohr.

PPS Although sometimes for cooking - especially recipes such as truffles where I don't add sugar - I blend the Lindt half/half with a "normal" dark chocolate to temper the bitterness

Thanks Jon Tseng!

[Timo]

It occured to me just now, while sipping a cup of the MarieBelle aztec dark hot chocolate, that the drink is rarely mentioned here on eGullet. Even a search failed to bring up a thread about it. Is this distressing to anyone else out there? For many, hot chocolate is another food group altogether between the months of November and March. For people like me, it is a food group itself year round...

So, I propose a thread dedicated to all things hot chocolate-y. Do you use a mix, or homeade? Which chocolate do you use? Do you add any spices/flavorings? Marshmallows, or whipped cream? Cinnamon stick? Peppermint stick? Frothy hot chocolate or flat? Any favorite recipe you'd be willing to share? Where's the best restaurant to order a cup?

A discussion of our hot (chocolate) lives would really perk up the boards I think. So, thanks in advance for any replies! This is a much underrated topic of discussion and deserves a chance.