I guess I always thought you needed hot chocolate mix to make hot chocolate. Back in the day, my mom always made a hot chocolate-esque drink by heating up milk (on the stovetop, of course; I never had a microwave growing up) and adding Hershey’s syrup. But this results in warm chocolate milk. I can’t put my finger on the difference between warm chocolate milk and actual hot chocolate, but there is definitely a difference.
When I came across this recipe for Hot Cocoa with Mint on Tofu for Two, I was intrigued to try making hot chocolate from scratch. I haven’t tried it with the mint extract yet, as I wanted to see how it tasted plain. Let me tell you: it was glorious. It tasted just like Swiss Miss- ok, I don’t actually remember what Swiss Miss tastes like, but it tasted just like something from a package, in a good way. In a “this is what hot chocolate is supposed to taste like” way. And this is all it took:
1 c soymilk (or your non-dairy milk of choice)
1 T sugar
1 T cocoa powder
pinch salt
Heat the soymilk in a small saucepan until it starts steaming. Whisk in the sugar and cocoa powder til dissolved, then add the salt. Enjoy.
This stuff is sweet, chocolatey, delicious, and really easy. I can’t wait to have some more and play around with adding extracts. Besides mint, I’m thinking that maple and hazelnut could be awesome.
How great that my recipe inspired you to make your first hot chocolate from scratch! We used to make it like this when I was a kid, only with cow’s milk of course, and without added extracts.
I don’t think maple extract is available here (and I haven’t seen hazelnut either). Maybe I’ll use maple syrup as a sweetener the next time I make cocoa – thanks for the idea!
By: Anni on October 23, 2008
at 1:44 am
I know what you mean about the hot milk. It just isn’t the same at all! I guess part of the reason hot chocolate tastes different than warm milk is that it is a bit salty. I’ll have to keep this recipe in mind.
By: WildKat on July 10, 2009
at 9:05 pm
The salt helps enhance the sweetness too…it’s yummy. I almost want some right now, except that it’s about 80 degrees!
By: Dynah on July 10, 2009
at 9:34 pm