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.
- 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.
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:
Homemade Hot Chocolate
- 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.
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