Mexican Hot Chocolate
In this article I have assembled 4 of my personal favorite Mexican Hot Chocolate recipes. What I love about these recipes is the fact that if you have a favorite spice that you would like to try you can simply replace one or all of the of the spices used in these recipes and still end up with a great hot drink.
Recipe # 1
Mexican Hot Cocoa
Serves 4 to 6
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash salt
1 quart milk (4 cups), divided
1/4 cup half-and-half
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a small bowl, combine cocoa, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Heat 1 cup of milk in a saucepan until bubbling. Stir in cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly.
Stir in remaining 3 cups milk and return to boiling. Before stirring, whisk until frothy; stir in cream and vanilla then heat through.
Recipe # 2
Mexican Cocoa
Serves 8
Don't skip any steps and throw the eggs right into the chocolate. You will have hot chocolate with scrambled eggs floating in it.
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
4 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 eggs
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler. In a separate heavy saucepan heat the milk and cream on low until hot but not bubbling. When the milk mixture is hot add 3 tablespoons of it to the chocolate and mix well. Blend in the rest of the milk mixture, the sugar, and the cinnamon. In a small bowl beat the eggs and vanilla. Add a tablespoon of the chocolate mixture to the eggs and beat well. Slowly stir the egg mixture into the chocolate. Whisk the hot chocolate briskly in the double boiler for 3 minutes, then serve immediately.
Recipe #3
Mexican Hot Chocolate
Serves 2
2 cups milk
4 ounces dark bitter chocolate
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
Warm the milk and chocolate in a saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the seeds and bean to the milk.
Stir with a molinillo or whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture begins to boil. Remove from the heat and froth the chocolate with the molinillo or the whisk. Serve immediately in ample sized mugs.
Recipe #4
Hot Chocolate Mexican Style
Serves 2 to 4
1/2 cup fresh masa (corn dough) or 1/2 cup masa flour (masa harina) mixed with a 1/4 cup hot water to blend
2 1/4 cups milk
1 1/2 cups water
1 disk Mexican chocolate
3 tablespoons piloncillo, chopped or 1/3 cup brown sugar plus 2 teaspoons molasses
1/4 teaspoon crushed aniseeds
Place the water and the masa into the jar of a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a medium sized saucepan.
Add the milk, chocolate, piloncillo and the aniseeds if you wish to use them. Bring the mixture to a simmer, whisking with a molinillo or whisk until the chocolate and sugar is melted and well-blended. Strain the mixture through a medium sieve and serve hot, in mugs.
So there you have them, if you love chocolate as much as I do then you will surely enjoy these spiced up hot chocolates. There's really nothing like a wonderful mug of Mexican hot chocolate any time of day or night to warm yourself up, relax and enjoy the moment with.