HOW TO MAKE REAL HOMEMADE HOT CHOCOLATE by CAMILLE AUBRAY

How do you turn a chilly wintry day into a warm and cozy one? Make your own homemade hot chocolate! This will taste so much better than any instant mix in a packet. The secret? Real, unsweetened cocoa, good-quality milk and water, and not-too-much sugar. Easy!

NOTE: I like all these ingredients to be organic because they taste so much better. To make four servings, here’s what you do:

1. Put a kettle of water on and bring to a boil. Set aside on warm.

2. Put 4 cups of fresh milk into a pot, and heat the milk on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it just starts to bubble but doesn’t boil.

3. Meanwhile, in another pot that you can later use a whisk in, take 4 rounded tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa (100% cocoa and no sweeteners in it) and add 2 rounded tablespoons of sugar, no more! Mix these dry ingredients with a spoon.

4. Slowly add a little boiled water to the pot of dry ingredients while stirring it into a nice smooth thick paste with no dry lumps. You’ll probably need no more than 1/8 cup of water, but watch as you go and get it smooth and not too thin.

5. When the milk is ready, take it off the heat and use a spoon to skim away any “skin” that may have formed on the surface.

6. Then slowly pour the milk into the cocoa paste’s pot, whisking briskly every step of the way to avoid lumps while you continue slowly pouring in the hot milk until it’s all in and there are no lumps.

7. Now, for the big finale: take that whisk and get really brisk with it, so that you get a nice foam on top.

8. Pour immediately into cups, mugs or a pot.

9. Sit down, light the lamp, put your feet up, listen to some nice music as you gaze from your warm and cozy nest outside at the wintry scenery and enjoy! Perhaps with a book to read—like one of my novels!

Camille Aubray is the author of COOKING FOR PICASSO and THE GODMOTHERS.

All Text and Pictures here are under copyright ©CamilleAubrayLLC