February 1, 2023

Rich & Decadent Hot Cocoa

Hot Cocoa

Are you prepared for the richest, most decadent hot cocoa ever?

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Equipment

Measuring Equipment (Cup/Tablespoon/Teaspoon/Scale)
Stove Top
Pot
Microplane

Ingredients

1 Cup Heavy Cream
150 Grams Semi-Sweet Chocolate (adjustable)
1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Sugar (adjustable)
1 Tablespoon Amaretto
1 Tablespoon Chocolate Rum (optional)
1 Splash Whole Milk
Whipped Cream
Dusting Nutmeg

Instructions

In a pot, start to warm the heavy cream. Use a very low temperature.
While the cream is starting to warm, measure out your other ingredients.
If your chocolate is in bar form, you'll want to cut or break it into small pieces.
Add the chocolate, cocoa powder, and cinnamon to the pot and cover.
Stir every 2 minutes to prevent sticking.
When the chocolate is almost melted, add the sugar, Amaretto, and chocolate rum and stir to incorporate.
Cook for another 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir. Make sure there are no more chucks of chocolate. If there are still chucks, you need to cook it a little longer.
Pour into mugs, but leave one quarter at the top.
Add a splash of whole milk and stir. This will help cool the cocoa, which will be incredibly hot.
Add whipped cream to the top.
Dust with fresh nutmeg.

Notes

Makes 2 mugs of cocoa, but can easily be split into 4 mini mugs.

Making The Best Hot Cocoa Ever

Are you prepared for the richest, most decadent hot cocoa ever? Start by throwing away your powdered mix, because you’ll never use it again.

The best part of making hot cocoa from scratch like this is that it’s so adjustable to your taste. If you want something sweeter, you can add more sugar. If you want something thinner, add more cream. Want to experiment with new flavors, get something like orange chocolate. Feel like something with a bit more kick, start playing with the alcohol. There are so many easy and delightful ways to play upon and improve this recipe that you can spend many winter nights discovering something new.

Hot Cocoa Common Mistakes

While the above recipe is blueprint, it’s a damn good blueprint. It’s going to satisfy most people. If you want it to turn out right, there are a few things you need to be careful of.

Use the right chocolate

One of the most common mistakes people make is using candy bars, like Hersey, for hot cocoa. This is a big no! You want semi-sweet chocolate or unsweetened chocolate. Don’t worry, it’s going to be sweet.

Keep the heat low

It’s tempting to want to get the cooking part over, but chocolate can easily burn and end up sticking to the pot. What’s worse is that burnt chocolate imparts terrible flavors, ruining all your heard work. Slow and steady wins this race.

Use cream & whole milk

If you want a creamy finished product you need to use cream. I’ve found that 36% cream works really well. Don’t use water, unless you’re aiming to disappoint yourself.

Use fresh nutmeg

Fresh nutmeg makes all the difference. So much so that I would advise against using powdered nutmeg and just skipping this step.

Make your own Whipped Cream

If you’re going though the trouble of making hot cocoa like this, don’t screw it up at the end by using subpar whipped cream from the supermarket.

Make your own Whipped Cream! It’s easy!
Homemade Whipped Cream

Don’t under estimate

This is a powerful mug of cocoa. It’s thick and heavy, and a full dessert on it’s own. It’s downright crippling. Be careful not to over do it.

Microplane

Don’t know what a microplane is or if you should get one? They are great grinding nuts and zesting lemons, etc. I personally find them easier to use and a lot less messy than graters, while also giving a finer finished product. They are great if you make cocktails.