The captious vegetarian

If you love chocolate, get cold easily, and live in Montreal (in January), then there’s nothing better than a steaming cup of hot chocolate before bed. But a word of warning: don’t buy any prepared hot cocoa mixes. Even the “upscale” sounding ones like Ghiradelli list sugar as the first ingredient.  I understand that sugar is much cheaper than cocoa, but these mixes are just wrong. The “chocolate” tastes more like dirty sugar water than hot cocoa. Make your own mix to keep in the pantry, or just whip together a cup when you happen to get a hankering (or when you’ve just walked home in -10 weather).

Hot cocoa seems like such a simple thing to make, and yet there are a surprising number of bad recipes out there. The first hot chocolate recipe I tried was Penzey’s recipe, as written on their cocoa bag. Their instructions are simple, but the recipe (given below) is embarrassingly bad.  It’s way too sweet, and it calls for only milk. In the past five years I’ve discovered through personal experimentation that hot cocoa tastes much better if made with part water, not all milk.

I then looked up Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe (given below), and they recommend one and one-half tablespoons of cocoa and one heaping tablespoon of sugar per cup of liquid, which is not bad, but I still prefer a slightly higher cocoa to sugar ratio. I was pleased, however, to find that CI argues that it’s important to mix the cocoa and sugar initially with water rather than milk, as the chocolate flavor and subtler fruity notes are released better in water than milk.

I’ve modified the Cook’s Illustrated recipe, reducing the sugar and eliminating the half and half, which I never have around.  Here’s my current recipe:

To make 2 servings of hot chocolate

In a heavy 2-quart (not non-stick) saucepan, whisk together until smooth:

• 1/4 cup of Dutch-process cocoa 
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons of sugar
• Small pinch salt
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup water

Simmer, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes, making sure whisk gets into the edges of pan. Add:

• 1 1/2 cups low-fat milk (1 or 2 percent)

Increase heat to medium-low, and cook until hot.  Do not boil.  Add one of the following:

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/12 teaspoon mint extract

Cook’s Illustrated recipe:

To make 4 cups of hot chocolate

In a heavy 2-quart (not non-stick) saucepan, whisk together until smooth:

• 6 Tbs Dutch-process cocoa (When Dutched, chocolate’s natural acidity is reduced by means of treatment with an alkaline solution.)
• 4 heaping Tbs sugar
• Small pinch salt
• 1 cup water

Simmer, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes, making sure whisk gets into the edges of pan. Add:

• 3 cups low-fat milk (1 or 2 percent)

Increase heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring occasionally with whisk, until steam rises from surface and tiny bubbles form around edge, 12 to 15 minutes. Do not boil. Add:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup half-and-half

My Notes: I don’t really understand why they tell you to cook the cocoa after adding the milk for another 12 to 15 minutes. It seems excessive to me. I usually just heat it until it’s warm, which just takes a few minutes. Derek likes this ratio of milk/sugar/cocoa, but I prefer a little more cocoa and a little less sugar, maybe 7 Tbs. cocoa and 3 Tbs. sugar per batch.  My most recent batch I used 2 tsp. of sugar and 4 tsp. of cocoa per cup, and threw in a tiny candy cane to add a bit of a mint flavor (mint and chocolate is one of my favorite combinations: I usually don’t have mini candy canes lying around so add mint extract. I’m also curious to try making it with a mint tea bag.) The cocoa was nice and chocolately, and sweet enough.

Penzey’s embarassingly bad recipe:

Combine and heat:

• 4 cups milk
• 3 Tbs. sugar
• 1-2 Tbs. cocoa
• dash of cinnamon
• dash of vanilla

Variations: I enjoy hot cocoa made with cinnamon and orange extract. CI suggests a variation made with orange peel. Other common variations call for ground coffee, or almond or nut extract, but I haven’t tried these recently. I’d also like to try making hot cocoa with almond or hazelnut or hemp milk instead of cow’s milk or soymilk. Other interesting sounding variations have you add a bit of peanut butter or other nut butter, or even ginger. Of course, there’s always other flavor extracts to try. Finally, I’d like to try a spicy hot chocolate, with cayenne or chili powder or maybe ancho powder.

An odd variation I sometimes make is molasses hot cocoa. Blackstrap molasses is a nutritional powerhouse, and can be used as a sweetener for hot cocoa. It adds an interesting flavor and great color.

• 1/2 Tbs. dutch-process cocoa
• 4 Tbs. water
• 1 Tbs. blackstrap molasses
• 1 cup unsweetened soymilk

Sift the cocoa into a mug, and mix in the water until it forms a smooth paste. Add the molasses and soymilk, then heat in the microwave for about 1 minute 45 seconds. The taste of the molasses is quite strong and takes some getting used to, but is quite nice once you’re acclimated.

Calories: 154 (fat 29%, sat fat 6%, carbs 49%, protein 22%)
Calcium: 481 (48%)
Iron: 6 (33%)
Vitamin A: 1000 (25%)
Vitamin C: 0 (0%)

Note: I usually use unsweetened soymilk, but it’s okay with plain (e.g. slightly sweetened) soymilk as well. With very sweet soymilk you probably should reduce the molasses or it will be syrupy sweet.

Here’s another variation I make sometimes:

Cinnamon Orange Sugar-less Hot Cocoa

• 2 Tbs. dutch-process cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk
• 1 Tbs. orange juice concentrate
• 6 drops of liquid stevia

Sift the cocoa into a mug, then ad the cinnamon. Mix in the water until it forms a smooth paste. Add the oj concentrate and soymilk, then heat in the microwave for about 1 minute 45 seconds. Then add the stevia. I don’t love the taste of stevia, but I find I can’t taste it at all in this recipe.

Calories 98 (28% fat, 8% sat fat, 50% carbs, 22% protein)
Calcium 182 (18%)
Iron 2.7 (15%)
Vit A 570 (14%)
Vit C 25 (33%)

Tips on making hot cocoa in the microwave: When you make hot cocoa on the stove you can whisk it while it’s heating to remove any lumps. Microwave hot cocoa is much more prone to be lumpy. I’ve found that there are two things you can do to avoid lumps. One, to put your cocoa through a sieve. Two, start by mixing the cocoa with a small amount of water to make a slurry. Stir until all the lumps are dissolved and you have a smooth paste. If you try to mix the cocoa into a larger amount of water, or with another liquid, it’s more difficult to get rid of all the lumps.