Sugar Savvy

Hot chocolate is unusually easy to make: it requires only a basic recipe and the understanding of a few simple principles.

You need two ingredients to make a true cup of hot chocolate: chocolate and milk. (The Maya and the Aztecs used water instead of milk, and you can still find chocolate con agua in Latin America, but milk has really become the standard.) The chocolate must be chopped or grated into very small pieces in order for it to melt evenly (use a chef’s knife, a serrated knife, a box grater, or a food processor). The character of the chocolate you choose will have a huge impact on the taste of your hot chocolate; experiment with different couvertures, and try to avoid anything with artificial ingredients (which will interfere with the chocolate’s flavor and change the way it behaves when melted). Whole milk brings with it a wonderful richness, but chocolate naturally contains fat in the form of cocoa butter so even chocolate combined with skim milk will yield a hearty result. Some people work with room temperature milk, others heat the milk first, while others grab the milk straight out of the fridge. One cup of milk generally constitutes one serving, into which you can mix anywhere from one ounce to four ounces of chocolate. Combine the chocolate and the milk over heat, and you’ll get hot chocolate. There are just a couple rules to follow: keep the heat low and whisk constantly.

Everything else is improvisation:

Try adding ground dried spices. Cinnamon and nutmeg are probably the most recognizable, though the popularity of chili is soaring. Anything from cardamom to black pepper is worth a try.

Scrape the seeds of a vanilla bean into the hot chocolate while it’s on the stove, or infuse the mixture with a fresh herb like lavender or bergamot.

Vary the intensity and the balance of flavor by adding powdered sugar or cocoa powder.

Enliven the drink at the last minute by stirring in a dash of cream, or liqueur–or coconut milk, or nut extract.

Enjoy!

This column appears on Sugar Savvy on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Each installment will feature a recipe, and may include tips from famous chocolatiers, ancient techniques, or contemporary innovations. Please send in your questions about hot chocolate by Email.