Mexican Hot Cocoa

I’ve been trying to devise the perfect hot cocoa mix for a while now. The first recipe I ever tried was off the back of the Hershey’s cocoa box. It was too sweet, without enough chocolatey flavor. Powdered sugar added a more subtle sweetness and I think a smoother texture. Not really sure about that, though. Maybe that’s my imagination. I tried 2 cups of chocolate chips–blech. Way too syrupy. I always add cinnamon to my hot fudge sauce because I love Mexican chocolate, so I added some to the mix and loved it, and of course fresh nutmeg is heavenly.

It still isn’t perfect, but I don’t know if it ever will be. So, you give it a try and maybe you’ll figure out that little tweak I need. Come on now, there must be a few self-appointed chocolate experts out there!

What’s your favorite homemade hot cocoa recipe? How do you like yours? Extra sweet and creamy, dark and strong, with or without marshmallows? Inquiring minds want to know. I want to know!

Mexican Hot Cocoa

 Ingredients

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• ¾ cup quality unsweetened cocoa
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• 1 ½ Tb cinnamon
• 2 Tb pure vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

Make hot cocoa mix

1. Place chocolate chips in food processor, pulse until fine.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until mixed, about 20 to 30 seconds.
   
3. Store in an airtight container.

Make a cup of hot cocoa

1. Heat 10 oz. or so of milk over medium heat until hot.
2. Stir 3 heaping Tablespoons mix into milk. Continue stirring until chocolate chips have melted and blended into milk.
3. Pour into mug. Add whipped cream and garnish with cinnamon, nutmeg or chocolate shavings, if desired.

Make a cup of hot mocha

1. Prepare a regular cup of hot coffee as you like it, with cream and/or sugar, etc.
2. Stir in a rounded Tablespoon cocoa mix until incorporated.
3. You can add whipped cream and garnish as you would hot cocoa if you like, which I usually do.

Note on mocha: If you like your coffee black with no sugar, you’ll probably like your mocha without added sugar and cream, but you may want to try a little cream to bring out the chocolate flavor.