Drinking Chocolate

We recently started offering a drinking chocolate that is a unique blend of dark chocolate shavings perfect for creating rich hot chocolate at home. The inspiration came from a trip to Venice, Italy, in December years ago.

In the frigid temperatures on a late night, only a few establishments were open, but we came upon a bar that was. The bartender offered us hot drinking chocolate. Because we didn’t speak Italian and he didn’t speak English, he pointed to his hand—to ask whether we wanted white chocolate—and to the dark table—to ask whether we wanted dark chocolate. We chose dark chocolate, and it warmed us to the core. It was a few ounces of pure bliss that neither of us has forgotten. The drinking chocolate was made of milk, heavy cream, and real dark chocolate—not cocoa powder. It was so thick we needed a spoon to finish it. This blend of dark chocolate shavings recreates that drinking chocolate.

Instructions for Preparing Hot Drinking Chocolate

For each serving, heat four ounces of milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Then whisk two ounces of chocolate into milk, until all chocolate has melted. Or, you can use two ounces of milk and two ounces of heavy cream if you want thicker hot chocolate.

Here are a few ways to tweak this comfort drink—Cinnamon & Cayenne; Peanut Butter; Boozy Citrus; and Goat Cheese.

Cinnamon & Cayenne

To create depth, stir a pinch of ground cayenne pepper and ground cinnamon into each serving of hot chocolate.

Caramel

Cut two of Dark Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramels into fours. Once you’ve melted the chocolate into the milk, add the caramels into the saucepan and stir until melted.