My household forecast: Fresh snow and frigid temperatures will combine to bring in short gusts of outdoor play, followed by a 100 percent chance for hot cocoa and snacks, leaving scattered drifts of buttered popcorn on the playroom floor. As the temperature drops, proper bundling time will exceed length of actual play, making more frequent expeditions necessary. Expect to run out of milk before morning.
Enter in America’s Test Kitchen newsletter, with a very timely recipe as follows:
Best-Ever Hot Cocoa Mix
This hot cocoa mix can be stored in an airtight container for three months. It uses two unusual ingredients: white chocolate chips give the cocoa a soft, creamy texture and escalate the chocolate flavor; and the cornstarch in the confectioners’ sugar (an ingredient manufacturers add to prevent clumping) helps thicken the cocoa.
Makes about 20 servings
3 c. nonfat dry milk
2 c. confectioners’ sugar
1 ½ c. Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 ½ c. white chocolate chips
¼ tsp. salt
Combine ingredients in large bowl. Working in two batches, pulse ingredients in food processor until chocolate is finely ground. To make hot cocoa, stir 1/3 c. mix into 1 c. hot milk. Top with whipped cream or mini marshmallows.
This seems to be just the kind of high-quality and still homemade shortcut I need. Of course, warming milk on the stove for each cup isn’t going to lessen my trips to the store or reduce the dish-washing, so I intend to settle for a slightly less rich version, using the mix with water, so I can simply put the tea kettle on and mix the cocoa right in our cups. I also plan to skip the toppings, not just because of an objection to the high-fructose corn syrup found in mini marshmallows (we all need an occasional splurge in junk food), but they just clog up the sippy cups.
After making the recipe exactly as written—it’s quite delicious, by the way—let me tell you what I’ll do differently for the next batch. First, since we’re serious chocolate lovers here, I will immediately change over the white chocolate chips for semisweet. Though white chocolate lends a “soft, creamy texture,” as the recipe promises, it can’t really “escalate the chocolate flavor” as white chocolate contains no cocoa solids. Using semisweet chocolate will, I think, really drive the chocolate flavor home. Also, I’d like to add just a pinch of cinnamon for a little extra warmth. If you really like the heat, try a pinch of cayenne pepper in the mix instead, giving a nod to the Mayans who were some of the earliest cocoa connoisseurs. Finally, I wonder what would happen if I chopped just the chocolate chips in the food processor, then whisked it all together. If the chocolate is frozen, it should chop without melting too quickly, and might eliminate the cocoa cloud that hovered around my kitchen, snowing down on the countertops.
Speaking of snow, we’ve spotted some more fresh flakes. Time to bundle up again and go catch some on our tongues, the perfect pre-cocoa treat!
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Editor’s Note: Angela Denstad Stigeler writes a food column each week for the Caledonia Argus. She, her husband and their two young children live in Caledonia.
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