It’s cold season here in Nairobi, well it’s supposed to be cold. However we’ve had a fair share of sun and dust this July. Anyway, today is gloomy and cold and what better way to keep the cold at bay than enjoying a cup of hot chocolate?

I have never made hot chocolate at home and I’m not talking of stirring drinking chocolate in milk, I mean the real deal. Milk and lotsa chocolate. Anyway a few weeks back as I was talking with Cici, a fellow foodie and blogger, we started talking hot chocolate and she told me that what we get from these Nairobi coffee shops is a total rip off compared to the real deal. She even mentioned that she had an easy recipe on her blog and recommended it to me.

I decided to give her recipe a try.

I used only a handful of ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 litre of milk
• 250g dark chocolate, cut into small chunks
• 2 -3 cinnamon sticks
• Marshmallows for garnish

Put the milk and the cinnamon sticks in a milkpan/sufuria and bring to a gentle boil. Cinnamon flavour always warms me up and hence my addition to the hot chocolate. You can use ground cinnamon instead.

As the milk comes to a boil, roughly cut the dark chocolate. If you know me, you will know that I absolutely love chocolate, the darker the better.

 I can neither deny nor confirm that I nibbled on a few chocolate pieces as I was cutting them 🙂

Once the milk has come to a boil, turn off the heat and take out the cinnamon sticks. Add in the chocolate pieces and some sugar. The sugar is totally optional.

Let it stand for a minute or so, or if you are as excited as I was you can go ahead and stir.

Serve in a cup and enjoy.

As if it was not chocolate enough, I added some melted chocolate.

Feeling even naughtier? Top off with some whipped cream.

Stir and sip away.

Verdict: Heart warming! Very chocolatey, I definitely enjoyed.

Variations: You can add mint leaves instead of the cinnamon sticks.

It can be served either hot or cold.

Video:

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Homemade Hot Chocolate

See Detailed Nutrition Info on

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 50gm dark chocolate pieces
• 3 cinnamon sticks/ 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar - optional

Instructions

In a milk pan/sufuria pour in the milk and add the cinnamon sticks and bring to a gentle boil.

Once the milk has boiled, turn off the heat and remove the cinnamon sticks.

Add in the chocolate pieces and sugar.

Stir with a metal spoon until the chocolate has melted.

Serve and enjoy.

You can top it with some whipped cream.