Fun With Carbs

Spiced hot chocolate

Whether you like it or not, the forecast calls for more snow in New England this week.  It’s time to indulge in a steaming hot beverage that will thaw your bones. Travel maven and author of Coach Class, Jeanne Leblanc, was kind enough to share her newfound recipe for spiced hot chocolate.

My quest for a recipe for spiced hot chocolate began a few months ago when I drank the version served in the cafe at the Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Hot chocolate flavored with hot chilies and cinnamon sounded weird, but I tried it at my sister’s insistence and was instantly hooked by the slow, spicy burn on top of the creamy, slightly bitter dark chocolate. When I got home, the question became how to make some for myself.

After several rounds of experimentation, I have not one answer but several.

First, the easy way: Dagoba Xocolatl organic hot chocolate mix. I can’t say for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the museum uses this product or something very like it.

Dagoba Xocolatl

The problem is the price. It’s $11.95, plus shipping, for 12 ounces from Dagoba’s online store. You might be able to get it for less at a gourmet food shop, but that range is still pretty high for me.

I have found, however, that I can get results reasonably like the Dagoba product by heating a cup of milk in a saucepan with a pinch of cinnamon (about 1/16 teaspoon) and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. When it’s steaming, I add an envelope of hot chocolate mix and about a tablespoon of powdered, unsweetened cocoa.

The results will be sweeter than the Dagoba mix, and the chocolate isn’t as rich. But it’s a fair approximation. If you don’t have cayenne, try an equal amount of chili powder. You can add 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and/or a few cloves, if you like the taste.

If you want to back up and do the whole thing from scratch, try this recipe, which I devised after much experimentation. This makes two generous mugs of hot chocolate:

2-1/2 cups of milk
1 vanilla bean (or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla)
2 sticks of cinnamon, broken (or 1/8 tsp cinnamon)
1/4 to 1/2 of a small, seeded chili pepper
(or 3/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
or 3/4 teaspoon of chili powder)
2 cloves (optional)
2 one-ounce squares of semi-sweet chocolate

From scratch

Put the milk in a saucepan over low heat and add the vanilla, cinnamon, chili and cloves. Let the milk heat gradually and don’t turn it too high — you don’t want the milk to form a skin. It will take at least 10 minutes for the milk to absorb the spices; you might want to taste it occasionally to check. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate squares over very low heat in another saucepan. Fish the chili, vanilla bean, cinnamon sticks and cloves out of the hot milk and pour it gradually into the pan with the melted chocolate. Stir constantly until smooth and serve it up.

On a particularly cold and nasty day, this hot chocolate is not harmed by a splash of whiskey or tequila.