From-scratch hot chocolate

[Saviolo]

There's been a late wintry blast in a few spots the last few weeks, so we wanted to do one last warming and delicious wintry recipe, here is our hot chocolate! We like a little spicy, so we usually toss in one of our dried pepper pods, but if you don't have that handy, a pinch of cayenne will really kick up the heat a little. That tiny bit of spiciness just really makes you want to keep drinking it!

You can control how dark the chocolate is by using milk instead of dark chocolate or by adding more milk/cream. You can control how sweet it is by adjusting the sugar, as well. The marshmallow fluff we add at the end will be next week's recipe!

[Arkansas Granny]

1. I don't remember the exact proportions, but I learned to make hot chocolate by mixing

cocoa powder, sugar and a pinch of salt. Then we added a little water to make a sort of syrup and brought that to a boil before adding the milk and warming it through. If we didn't have marshmallows, we topped ours with whipped cream.

That pinch of salt really enhances the flavor.

[longship]

2. My mother's hot chocolate.

Easy.

1 heaping tsp cocoa*
1 heaping tsp sugar*
1 dash water*
Vanilla!

*per serving.

Add ingredients into a saucepan on low heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to near boil.

Add equal parts:
Whole milk
Evaporated milk

Heat until hot.
Garnish with two big marshmallows per mug.

Optional substitution: a shot of brandy.

Either way, it is wonderful. The evaporated milk makes it all rich and wonderful.

[Major Nikon]

3. My recipe is pretty simple

4 tsp powdered sugar
2 tsp high quality Dutch process cocoa (Valrhona)
Pinch salt
Steamed milk

I steam the milk with my espresso machine, add a couple of teaspoons to the powder mix in a mug and stir to get a slurry going before adding the rest.

If you don’t have a way to steam milk just heat it in a microwave to about 160F and shake the crap out of it in a closed container.

[Kali]

4. also a good way to finally use that damn 4 lb bar of dark chocolate

you bought at Trader Joe's three years ago

do not try to melt chocolate and heat milk together in a small container (such as a coffee cup) in the the microwave - almost guaranteed to boil over and make a big mess. don't ask how long it took me to learn that.