Spiced hot chocolate

It’s getting cold here. Maybe not real weather cold, but cold enough for a jacket, soup, tea and well, hot chocolate. It’s the season. And if you are going to indulge, you better do it right.

Chocolate is a fantastic stimulant, powerful antioxidant, and supplies a good amount of magnesium, if you ever need to justify it for its health benefits, but I think if we are honest about it, just the taste is enough reason to have it. An in-the-moment-silky-smooth-give-it-to-me-right-now-no-excuses-needed pleasure.

Why do you care if you do it right? Because most commercial chocolate barely has any cocoa in it – see, from bean to cup, lots can happen, so your cup of commercial hot cocoa may have lots of additives and very little cocoa. Like homeopathic amounts of it. Seriously. This has to stop. You deserve to have the real thing.

Here is how to make your own hot cocoa – from scratch.

For 2 cups:

3 oz dark fair trade plain chocolate

2 oz heavy cream (use coconut cream if dairy free)

2 cups milk of your choice (cow, almond, coconut, etc.)

2 tbsp freshly ground cocoa nibs

1 tbsp molasses or maple syrup

1 inch vanilla bean, scraped

pinch Himalayan salt

1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon 

dash of Cayenne pepper (or add to taste)

Use a double boiler to melt the chocolate. Slowly whisk in the cream, milk, nibs, sweetener, vanilla and dry spices. Let everything simmer for 2 minutes. Serve hot hot hot and decorate with spices.

Let us know what you think in the comments below and happy sipping!