How to Make Hot Chocolate Without a Recipe
At Food52, we love recipes -- but do we always use them? Of course not. Because once you realize you don't always need a recipe, you'll make your favorite dishes a lot more often.
Today: Food52's Managing Editor, Brette Warshaw, shows how to make hot chocolate from scratch -- with any chocolate and dairy you've got.
You have probably been making hot chocolate without a recipe for your entire life -- because for many, hot chocolate can mean dumping a few scoops of some mix (or a packet of Swiss Miss) into a mug, adding a few glugs of milk, and heating the whole thing in the microwave. Making hot chocolate from scratch was something you probably didn't even think to do -- because if you did think about it, you'd realize how truly simple it is.
I was one of those mix-people, until I ran out of mix -- and, using the odds and ends of chocolate found in my pantry, made hot chocolate myself. My winters have never been the same.
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Because being able to make hot chocolate with any kind of chocolate -- and any kind of dairy -- makes you a superhero this season; it cures colds, it cures moods, it solves breakfast and snack and dessert. Here's how to do it, with whatever you've got.
How to Make Hot Chocolate Without a Recipe
1. Melt your chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) with half of your milk. For a big mug of hot chocolate, I used 3 ounces of chocolate for every two cups of milk; feel free to use good-quality cocoa powder in the place of some or all of the chocolate. I'm a fan of La Boite Hot Chocolate and More chips, which are spiced; if you're using plain chocolate, feel free to play with the spices yourself.
2. Whisk in the rest of your milk, and let the mixture heat through. Taste it; if it's not sweet enough, add sugar.
3. Pour into a warm mug, top with marshmallows or whipped cream, and drink up!
Photos by James Ransom
This article originally appeared on Food52.com: How To Make Hot Chocolate Without a Recipe