Reccos for excellent hot chocolate mix?

[Robin Garr]

It just occurred to me that hot chocolate makes an excellent, comforting drink when it's wintry out and you don't want caffeine.

I know I can make it from scratch, but being lazy, I'd like to have a high-quality mix around. Not overly sweet, and maybe on the darker side. Anyone have any favorites to recommend?

It just occurred to me that hot chocolate makes an excellent, comforting drink when it's wintry out and you don't want caffeine.

I know I can make it from scratch, but being lazy, I'd like to have a high-quality mix around. Not overly sweet, and maybe on the darker side. Anyone have any favorites to recommend?

Robin,

I have yet to try it, but Celia posted a link to hot chocolate mix recipe from Epicurious. It can be found here, and it sounded good enough for me to save the recipe to my food folder. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=20721

Guilty pleasure: Safeway Select "European Cafe Style" hot cocoa mix. Not overly sweet. I mix it into coffee now and then.

Two of my faves are Abuelita and Ibarra, both Mexican chocolate in wafers. You slowly melt a couple of wedges in some milk.

Thank me later.
http://www.burdickchocolate.com/item-de ... as%20Gifts

Thank me later.

Why, John, are you sending me some? I *will* thank you when it arrives.

Droste Cocoa. To make a cup of hot cocoa requires almost no cooking: a spoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a bit of butter.

One worth trying if you see it, is Charbonnel et Walker - purveyors of chocolate to Queen Betty Windsor
(gawd bless her )

They make an old-fashioned drinking chocolate that is not much more than grated chocolate. It needs to be mixed well, but is quite "grown-up" having a pleasant dark chocolate bitterness and not overly sweet. Also very handy for other uses.

regards

Ian

It just occurred to me that hot chocolate makes an excellent, comforting drink when it's wintry out and you don't want caffeine.

I know I can make it from scratch, but being lazy, I'd like to have a high-quality mix around. Not overly sweet, and maybe on the darker side. Anyone have any favorites to recommend?

Well, thank you for posting for me, but the problem is I'm getting all gourmet reccos, and I want a dry mix I can mix with hot water while flying. No way to heat milk up there (well, there is, but it would take away one of our only two coffee warmer burners, and my fellow FAs would throttle me, plus the milk would adulterate the pot for the rest of the flight). I swear to you, I paid $3 for a Starbucks hot chocolate last week and ended up throwing it away after two sips. WAAAY too much sugar. I would've given it to a flying buddy if I didn't have a cold. (Flight attendants are notorious for sharing, even without an invitation.)

I am not a snob <sniff!>, but I just want something I can drink that is adult, y'know? Not too sweet is primary.

I used to have a recipe, but maybe from the 70s... lost it now. (Also, the recipe.)

It just occurred to me that hot chocolate makes an excellent, comforting drink when it's wintry out and you don't want caffeine.

I know I can make it from scratch, but being lazy, I'd like to have a high-quality mix around. Not overly sweet, and maybe on the darker side. Anyone have any favorites to recommend?

Well, thank you for posting for me, but the problem is I'm getting all gourmet reccos, and I want a dry mix I can mix with hot water while flying. No way to heat milk up there (well, there is, but it would take away one of our only two coffee warmer burners, and my fellow FAs would throttle me, plus the milk would adulterate the pot for the rest of the flight). I swear to you, I paid $3 for a Starbucks hot chocolate last week and ended up throwing it away after two sips. WAAAY too much sugar. I would've given it to a flying buddy if I didn't have a cold. (Flight attendants are notorious for sharing, even without an invitation.)

I am not a snob <sniff!>, but I just want something I can drink that is adult, y'know? Not too sweet is primary.

I used to have a recipe, but maybe from the 70s... lost it now. (Also, the recipe.)

Robin and Karen, I received some MarieBelle "Aztec" Hot chocolate as a gift from my former boss. I think it's exactly what you are looking for. Here's a little blurb about it that I just found via google.
http://www.thefoodpaper.com/features/mariebellechocolates.html

Holey moley, Carrie! Did you check out those prices?! It's about as cheap as truffles! (The fungi kind.) I would love to try some, but it's too pricey for me. Your boss must love you a lot!

Thanks for the recco, though, and if I ever come across it in my travels, you can bet I'll be at the head of the line to try it.

Thank me later.
http://www.burdickchocolate.com/item-de ... as%20Gifts

Ah! Mmmmm! I am familiar with Burdick and know they make fabulous chocolates. I've even given them as gifts before; I love their exotic flavors. However, once again, I'm a poor, lowly flight attendant on a limited income, and I'm looking for something I can keep around on a regular basis for at home and on the road. (Another thing, I usually have a minimum of 10 other crew members with me, and it's unwritten law that we share stuff like this.)

But all I want is a simple recipe for a powdered mix that will allow hot water instead of requiring milk. Swiss Miss doesn't do it for me. (Haha!)

Guilty pleasure: Safeway Select "European Cafe Style" hot cocoa mix. Not overly sweet. I mix it into coffee now and then.

We don't have any Safeways in Memphis anymore, but I see they offer home delivery. This is a definite maybe!!Thanks, Stuart!

I'd still like my own recipe, and now I'm a woman on a mission.

Karen, I know this might be a bit pathetic, but...when I was at college I had a gorgeous friend called DL who was an exchange student from California. Her mother used to send her a hot chocolate premix - good hot chocolate blend combined with full cream milk powder - and all she had to do was mix it with boiling water. Y'know, it wasn't at all bad. I've done something similar - started with the hot choc mix recipe that Bob posted a link to above - and then mixed it with a portion of powdered milk so that when it was reconstituted it would be about the right strength. I made this for a friend who was spending days in hospital with a sick child, and she really enjoyed it, more for the convenience than anything else, I think. If I was going to make it again, I think I'd start with a good purchased mix, as the homemade ones tend to be harder to dissolve.

Good luck!

Celia

My wife made this hot chocolate mix for our daughter after tasting something made from a commercial mix. It's very rich, and you could always make a test mix and adjust the sugar level from there. It's from the book Lauren Groveman's Kitchen. It makes a lot of the cocoa mix, so you may want to scale back.

Mom's Hot Cocoa Mix

3 cups Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
4 1/2 cups superfine sugar or vanilla sugar (recipe follows)
6 1/2 cups dry nonfat milk
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)

Whisk together all ingredients in a 6-quart bowl. Sift mixture through a large, triple-mesh sieve into another bowl, removing any large crystals of sugar or dry milk left in the sieve. Sift back in the original bowl. Store in an airtight 4 - 5 quart canister

To make one mug of cocoa:

1/3 generous cup of Mom's Hot Cocoa mix
1 cup boiling water or 1/2 cup hot milk and 1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

(You know what to do with this.)

To make vanilla sugar:

After scraping a vanilla pod to use the seeds in something like ice cream or pastry cream, put the empty pod in a jar and fill the jar with granulated or superfine sugar. Give the jar a good shake, put on the lid, and let it sit for a month or so to let the flavors infuse. Add more sugar as you remove it.

After reading this I just went and made a pot from the recipe on the side of a Hershey's can. Seems to me you could just mix up the dry ingredients (along with a full milk powder) put them in a baggie and then add hot water. Carry a little bottle of good vanilla extract with you.

Droste Cocoa. To make a cup of hot cocoa requires almost no cooking: a spoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a bit of butter.

Jeff,

My Father loves Droste and I will pass your recipe along to him.

Thanks

Droste Cocoa. To make a cup of hot cocoa requires almost no cooking: a spoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a bit of butter.

Jeff,

My Father loves Droste and I will pass your recipe along to him.

Thanks

YW. Let me give you the exact proportions: Put 2 tsp cocoa, 2 heaping tsp sugar, and a pinch of salt into a mug. Put a splash of milk or water in the mug and stir to make a paste. Now add a cup of hot milk or water, and a "knob" of butter. (A knob is about a tablespoon.)

Droste Cocoa. To make a cup of hot cocoa requires almost no cooking: a spoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a bit of butter.

Jeff,

My Father loves Droste and I will pass your recipe along to him.

Thanks

YW. Let me give you the exact proportions: Put 2 tsp cocoa, 2 heaping tsp sugar, and a pinch of salt into a mug. Put a splash of milk or water in the mug and stir to make a paste. Now add a cup of hot milk or water, and a "knob" of butter. (A knob is about a tablespoon.)

What? No Rum? I probably should have noted that my Father is retired. Don't all those people "warm up" their cocoa?

Just kidding and thanks for the recipe.

Should I ever manage to retire, I plan on warming up my cocoa on a very regular basis!

I ordered some of the Burdick hot chocolate mix.

For those of you who have an espresso machine, here is a thread that describes ways to use the steaming wand to produce a hot chocolate, and even pour some latter art on it if you are so inclined.

http://www.home-barista.com/tips/hot-chocolate-recipes-for-holidays-t8385.html

My wife made this hot chocolate mix for our daughter after tasting something made from a commercial mix. It's very rich, and you could always make a test mix and adjust the sugar level from there. It's from the book Lauren Groveman's Kitchen. It makes a lot of the cocoa mix, so you may want to scale back.

Mom's Hot Cocoa Mix

3 cups Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
4 1/2 cups superfine sugar or vanilla sugar (recipe follows)
6 1/2 cups dry nonfat milk
1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)

Whisk together all ingredients in a 6-quart bowl. Sift mixture through a large, triple-mesh sieve into another bowl, removing any large crystals of sugar or dry milk left in the sieve. Sift back in the original bowl. Store in an airtight 4 - 5 quart canister

To make one mug of cocoa:

1/3 generous cup of Mom's Hot Cocoa mix
1 cup boiling water or 1/2 cup hot milk and 1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

(You know what to do with this.)

To make vanilla sugar:

After scraping a vanilla pod to use the seeds in something like ice cream or pastry cream, put the empty pod in a jar and fill the jar with granulated or superfine sugar. Give the jar a good shake, put on the lid, and let it sit for a month or so to let the flavors infuse. Add more sugar as you remove it.

Mike, this sounds GREAT! I just stumbled across an Alton Brown recipe that sounds like what I'm looking for, too: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alto ... index.html. I bought a box of Droste cocao in Amsterdam a couple of days ago and plan to get the rest of the ingredients tomorrow and try Alton's first while I wait for the vanilla sugar to ripen (is that the right word?) before I try yours.

THANKS!