The best hot chocolate, ever.

As I mentioned in my last post, despite that fact that it is the middle of spring, the weather of late has not been amazing  (except for yesterday. Yesterday was good. But the rest of lately – not so good. There was even snow on the mountain earlier in the week!) As annoying as I find it when other people whinge about the weather, unfortunately this is a habit of mine too. According to my boyfriend (who we call ‘B’ for the time being to mask his identity – ‘You cant write about people on the internet without their permission!’ “Oh… well then, can I have your permission please?’ ‘… I’ll think about it’), I complain about the weather constantly… or perhaps not so much the weather, as the actual temperature. I dont like to be too cold or hot… Although come to think of it, I dont like the rain or wind either, so I guess I probably do complain about the weather a lot! But to be fair, the weather here hasn’t been putting in much effort these last few weeks as far as Im concerned, so I think it deserves to be complained about a little ;)

The other night, despite the low temperatures it was quite clear and still, and so we decided to light the fire pot and sit around and tell stories in the backyard. And no fire pot gathering would be complete without a cup of deliciously thick hot chocolate (or beer according to B, but hot chocolate won out this night!)

The story of this hot chocolate goes back about 8 years ago, when I spent a few nights in a small town called Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic in the middle of winter. One of my fondest memories of the place (other than the fact that they had a bear – a real, live bear – who lived in a cave under the castle!) was the beautifully thick and warming cups of hot chocolate sold in the main square. They  like hot, melted chocolate with a little bit of cream mixed in. I’ve been trying to recreate it ever since – and this is pretty close to it. Its thick and creamy, rich in flavour, and what makes it even better is that its actually fairly healthy compared with the original version. Make the most of this cooler weather and whip yourself up a cup of this – you wont be sorry you did!

 The best hot chocolate, ever.

Notes: To get the best outcome of the recipe, I suggest using the products as described below. They are the ones I have had the best results with, and its worth scouting them out if you dont have them already, the end product is worth it – trust me!

4 Tbsp raw cacao

3 Tbsp coconut sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 C hot water

450ml organic, non-homogenized milk*

Place cacao, sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan with the water and stir to combine over a low heat. Slowly stir in the milk, and bring to a low simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, after which the milk should have thickened somewhat. Serve and enjoy!

Serves 2

*If you are in Tassie, I highly recommend Elgaar milk