Homemade hot chocolate (or cocoa) from scratch - save money and do better with this winter treat

Hot chocolate, or hot cocoa, is delicious anytime, especially when it's cold out, especially when it's snowed (like it did recently in Knoxville!), and especially-especially when you've just come in from working or playing out in that cold. What do you do if you don't have any Swiss Miss on hand? You celebrate, because it's not very good, and then you make your own from scratch.

Now there are some very good hot cocoa products available commercially, and anyone that really likes this stuff should look into them.  For instance, Schokinag drinking chocolates, available with a hefty price tag ($10-12 for 4-6 servings), are available locally in both The Fresh Market and Earth Fare, as well as other places, in all likelihood.  Are they worth it?  Absolutely.. they're very, very good... like buckle your knees and feel bad when you down the whole $4 cup in 20 seconds good.  Check these out.

To come in nearly as good (or arguably every bit as good) for a much lighter price tag with even more personal satisfaction, make your own.  The recipes are quite simple, and it only takes a few minutes and very little in the way of special equipment: a whisk really helps, a saucepan is needed, and a ladle makes serving more convenient.  Plus, making your own at home opens a huge variety of options for you to try.  See here for more information on that!

A bare-bones recipe that is extremely good starts and ends with good chocolate.  The Ghirardelli brand, available as you'll need it at The Fresh Market and Earth Fare (and some grocery stores) is an excellent balance between availability, cost, and quality.  Other winners, for slightly more money, are Green and Black's (available at the same upscale groceries), Schraffen  Berger (also similarly available), and Schokinag (available for online purchase).  Any high-quality cocoa powder and/or ground, unsweetened chocolate will do fine.  Hershey's and Nestle's tend not to perform very well.

Here's a bare-bones approach that is very good and very simple:

Ingredients:

• Enough (whole) milk (substituting some for some half and half to make it better!) to come just short of filling however many mugs you want to fill;
• 1 slightly heaping tbsp of high-quality cocoa powder of your choosing per 8 oz. of milk;
• 2 tsp. sugar (turbinado and evaporated cane juice do wonderfully) per 8 oz. of milk;
• 1 tsp. ground chocolate (Ghirardelli offers this, e.g.) OR the rough equivalent (8-10 chips) in high-quality chocolate chips per 8 oz. of milk.

Directions:

1. Add all of the ingredients to a saucepan or pot large enough to hold everything and start heating the mixture over medium heat.
2. Whisk almost continuously to keep milk or chocolate from burning to the pan and to distribute the cocoa, which is slightly hydrophobic.
3. Continue until the mixture begins to steam.  Ladle into mugs and enjoy hot.  Garnish with marshmallows or whipped cream, as desired.

A quick tip is that you can vary the intensity (darkness) of the resulting cocoa by adding more cocoa or less.  This recipe makes quite a dark cocoa, but it's good, though very rich, darker.  It's also beautiful lighter. 

This article is part one of a series of two.  For interesting variations and tips, see this continuation article about recipes and variations for great hot cocoa.  They are real winners and will keep you interested in hot cocoa all winter long, as if chocolate isn't interesting enough by itself!

Buy it locally! Many of the great premium chocolates that form the cornerstone of these recipes and ideas are available in Knoxville at The Fresh Market and Earth Fare locations. They're worth the price and the trip!

For more great recipes and cooking ideas, follow the Knoxville Gourmet Food Examiner by subcribing at the top of the page. You can also read more on his personal cooking blog: The Untrained Gourmet.