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November 23, 2011

Homemade Hot Chocolate

I can’t believe it’s end of November and we will be in a brand NEW year in little more than a month’s time. Time seems to fly with no worries, but here we are trying to play catch up with time. My space has been quiet for some time now due to a personal tragedy and I’m still struggling to pull myself together to do anything. But I thought Blogging marathon and hosting Kid’s Delight event will cheer me up and get me back into cooking and into the upcoming holiday mood. 

So here I am ready for another edition of Blogging marathon. Thanks to Valli for organizing 10 successful BMs this year. I picked “Winter Special Dishes” as my theme. Growing up in Southern India where the temperatures are mild to high throughout the year, dishes remain the same almost throughout the year. We use seasonally available produce, but the basic dish did not change dramatically. It’s only after coming to chilly northeast US that I realized the reason and need for making winter “special” dishes. Weather in winter makes me want to just curl up under a throw with a hot bowl of soup to warm up. 

These are the reasons I think what makes a dish “winter special”:
  • Warms you up from within when eaten, like a soup. 
  • Warms up the house when cooked/ baked, like a baked pasta dish etc. 
  • Use produce available in winter, like winter squashes etc. 
  • Since winter also means Holiday season, any dish that is rich and festive falls under this category too. 
 


So now you know what to expect for the next 7 days – some very yummy winter special dishes. To start off the marathon and to keep warm in this chilly winter, I made some hot chocolate from scratch. This recipe is very easy to put together and oh-so-much better than the readymade mixes. 


Recipe courtesy: Taste of Home 
Ingredients (Makes 3 servings): 
Baking cocoa – 3tbsp 
Sugar – ¼ cup (use more or less depending on your preference) 
Salt – pinch 
Hot water – ¼ cup 
Milk – 3 cups (I used 2 cups 1% & 1 cup 2% milk)
Pure Vanilla extract – ½ tsp 

Method: 
  • Combine cocoa, sugar & salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in hot water and bring the mixture to a boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. 
  • Slowly whisk in the milk and bring the mixture to a slow simmer and simmer for 2-3 minutes. 
  • Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Whisk the mixture until frothy. 

Enjoy as is or top it with some whipped cream and dust with chocolate.

Lets check out what my fellow bloggers have cooked up for the first day of BM# 10.

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20 comments:

  1. this way of making hot chocolate is new to me, what is baking cocoa?

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  2. That's so inviting. Love those cups as well. The first recipe I thought of when I saw the Winter special theme in this marathon, was hot chocolate. :)

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  3. Suma, even me--the first recipe I thought of for winter special is hot chocolate, makes you just curl up in bed and stay warm.

    Pradnya, baking cocoa is ground chocolate like hershey brand cocoa powder usually used for baking.

    Thanks Aarthi.

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  4. Those cups of hot chocolate look very inviting..nice recipe

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  5. I am not a milk person...but I am sure this surely wud b welcome by anybody n everybody...lovely clicks too...

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  6. Looks so delicious...yummy drink

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  7. U know wat, hot chocolates with a hint of cinnamon powder is one of my most favourite comforting drink during this chilled weather,just prepared yesterday specially for me, i dont mind to have urs rite now..

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  8. Looks so inviting and beautiful snaps...

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  9. comforting drink.absolutely love hot chocolate..amazing clicks too ...

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  10. Looks so inviting.Love those mugs :). Its raining here and wish I had someone prepare this for me....

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  11. new recipe to me and looks inviting. lovely cicks

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  12. This is one of my family fav especially during cold winter evenings..your pics are making me crave for some real bad :)
    USMasala

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  13. Awesome pictures Pavani!..those cups are so inviting!

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  14. can't take my eyes off the screen.......wow...looks so so good

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  15. I just purchased some expensive Pernigotti Cocoa Powder off of Amazon that would be perfect in this. I use my hand blender to create froth in my hot chocolates. YUM! Thanks for this great recipe.

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  16. it looks too good to eat..so pretty and amazing

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  17. Drooling on the pics!!! Superb Clicks!!!! Tempting Hot Choc!!!

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