How to make European Drinking Chocolate

When life gives you dark chocolate, take my advice and make hot chocolate. But this recipe for hot chocolate won't be your usual Swiss Miss from a packet. This is the good stuff. This is like drinking chocolate and it will be so rich and so good, you'll forget what day it is. This stuff could stop wars, or at least cure the winter blues or make you forget your bad day at the office.

My husband received some organic dark chocolate from Spain from his boss. It's 71% and I knew it would take a while for us to eat, piece by piece. So my first thought was to make hot chocolate, and today I followed through on that plan. The most important part about making this drinking chocolate is the quality of your chocolate. So choose wisely and you won't have any regrets.

To top off my hot chocolate, I decided to make my own whipped cream. And today is National Whipped Cream Day, so that's even cooler. To make your whipped cream, take a mixing bowl and put it in the fridge for at least fifteen minutes. The secret to a good whipped cream is using a cold bowl and heavy whipping cream right from the fridge. Take one cup of heavy whipping cream and add two tablespoons of Powdered Sugar. Use a mixer and mix on high until peaks form. For every one cup of heavy whipping cream you use, you'll get two cups of whipped cream.

The first time I had hot chocolate like this was on a visit to Paris, at you guessed it-Angelina. Me and everyone else it seems has discovered this jewel in Paris and fallen in love with the dark drinking chocolate. That first sip was a life changer for me, opening up my palate for rich French flavors and cuisine. I've made something similar a couple of times at home and even found it here in Seattle at Café Presse. But the recipe I used today was better than the last two I made. So, no, you don't have to fly to Paris to enjoy it, but you do need to use really good chocolate and whole milk.

You will savor each sip of this rich drinking chocolate. And please don't feel guilty for indulging. The dark chocolate has health benefits and whole organic milk is very good for you. This is how the Europeans treat themselves and they are a lot healthier than us in the states.

This recipe has many names. Hot Chocolate, Drinking Chocolate, French Hot Chocolate, European Hot Chocolate, or the actual French name-Chocolate Chaud, meaning hot chocolate. So just pick what you want to call the stuff and whip some up!

I went on Pinterest and found a good solid recipe that I'm sure I'll use again, especially if I have too much dark chocolate in my possession again. The recipe was found here, on wellplated.com. I adapted it a little since I halved the recipe and the original uses espresso powder which I skipped. With mine, I ended up with one large serving of drinking chocolate.

French Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

    

     1 cup whole milk

     1/4 cup heavy cream

     1 T. powdered sugar

     4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, at least 70%, chopped

    Two cups whipped cream, for serving. That's ok if you have some left over. Refrigerate leftovers and use for your coffee the next day!  

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the whole milk, heavy cream, and powdered sugar, until small bubbles appear around the edges. Do not allow the mixture to boil.
2. Remove from saucepan from the heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted, returning the sauce to low heat if needed for the chocolate to melt completely. Serve warm, topped with  whipped cream.