Authentic Hot Chocolate
Sam Madell is a chocolate purist. At her Australian chocolate company Tava, she produces a 100%-cacao bar using beans she and her partner Langdon Stevenson purchase directly from growers and collectives on the South Pacific island of Vanuatu. Over a lengthy email conversation, Sam and I discovered that we have something in common: we’re both, in her words, “passionate and pedantic about chocolate.” And just as Seneca Klassen from Bittersweet had a few weeks earlier, Sam sent me her favorite recipe for hot chocolate. (Coincidentally, Sam was the contentious reader who informed me that I had misidentified the definitely male Seneca as a woman—but this time around I’m confident about Ms. Madell’s gender.) Her aromatic drink has a strong resemblance to a classic Spanish hot chocolate, and the use of water instead of milk brings the recipe even closer to its Latin American roots.
Authentic Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate
This recipe works beautifully using water instead of milk, which is perfect for people who want to consume chocolate for its beneficial antioxidants. (When cocoa is combined with milk, the antioxidants in the cocoa bind to the proteins in the milk, making the antioxidants bio-unavailable, and therefore essentially useless.) The cornflour in this recipe takes away the austere edge that most water-based chocolate drinks have. It’s also easy to modify: if it’s too strong, add some extra sugar to taste; if it’s too rich, add some extra water.
The drink is best served with something to dip into it—ideally churros (Spanish donuts), but croissants work well too!
Ingredients:
40g unsweetened chocolate
2 cups water
2 Tbsp sugar (or more, to taste)
2 Tbsp cornflourServes 2
1. Pour the water into a saucepan, and place over medium heat until it’s nearly simmering.
2. Meanwhile, combine the sugar and cornflour in a cup.
3. Pour a small amount of the hot water into the sugar/cornflour mixture, and stir until you have a runny, lump-free paste.
4. Pour this paste back into the saucepan with the rest of the water, over medium heat.
5. Break the chocolate into pieces, then add the pieces to the hot water mixture.
6. Whisk the mixture over heat until it starts to thicken. This will take a few minutes. (The longer you cook it, the thicker it will become.)
7. Pour into mugs, and serve immediately. (It’s normal for this hot chocolate to form a skin, like custard.)
This column appears on Sugar Savvy during the second and fourth week 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.
Very interesting — I didn’t know about the interaction between milk and chocolate’s anti-oxidants. The use of corn flour reminds me of Mexico’s champurrado or atole de chocolate, in which lime-treated corn flour (masa harina) is used to thicken the drink. It also gives the drink a slightly unusual “savory” flavor that makes me think of tortilla chips and tacos while I drink it.