Michael Turback's Mocha

The Cocoa Lady is excited to announce a Cocoa Connoisseur recipe in Michael Turback’s newly released Mocha. As a new face in the chocolate industry, it is quite an honor to be selected to participate in this culinary opportunity. It was a wonderful experience working with Mr. Turback and I am delighted to be a part of his chocolate and coffee experience.

My 1st Frothing Experience

My husband is on a business trip and I have complete access to HIS coffee/cappuccino/espresso machine. Inspired by my Boston trip, I was determined to figure out how to use the frothing machine on his Krups. Initially, I thought…this shouldn’t be too hard? The bottom line, I ended up breaking out with the instructions on how to use that bad boy.

Since Frank drank up all the Milk before he left (which is like sacrilegious in our house), I had to use a small pint of whipping cream and a little water. I wasn’t in a heavy hot chocolate mood, but I needed my fix. Ta-dah. I am a frothing fool now!!!

The mix of the day is Colombian 53 Single Origin Drinking Chocolate by Allergo Coffee. I found this selection in Whole Foods a little while back. Since this is a single origin drinking chocolate, all of the cacao beans come from the same region. Many chocolate and hot chocolate manufacturers use beans from all over with different quality levels to make their final creations. Most of the time, the end result isn’t very good since the three to four types of cacao beans each have a different level of roasting and/or conching that needs to be done to achieve optimum flavor.

Now, Allergo uses 53% Colombian dark chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), Colombian cocoa powder, cane sugar. I pour my frothy milk into my ducky mug my sister Pam got me for Easter and added the Colombian 53 to the mix. Forget Calgon taking me away….it was Colombian 53 for me!

Back for Panera Hot Chocolate

With my business trip ending the next day, last Saturday was the last time I could seek out a good cup of hot chocolate. So, I went back to Panera. Time was tight but I needed a fix. Since I was eating breakfast at the restaurant I had my cup of power chocolate there.

Ohhh! What a good decision. Take a look at that picture. I was served another wonderful cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream this time. An extra added bonus was the syrup on top. Normally, I wish to enjoy my chocolate straight up. However, this was going to be a long day on the tradeshow floor so I needed all the chocolate I could get.

I have one word for this indulgence….FABULOUS!

Au Bon Pain Hot Chocolate

I learned my lesson from my September trip to Boston that the Au Bon Pain on State and Kirby is not open over the weekend. I was on a mission to try their hot chocolate before I returned to Texas. So, with great anticipation I was ready for a visit after my business meetings on Friday. I was very excited to try their hot chocolate due to an old article I read about Au Bon Pain’s hot chocolate trio called “Choco Bon Loco: A Crazy Chocolate Experience”. The recipe is a blend of three chocolates to form a European style drinking chocolate.

However, when I looked at the menu it simply listed “Hot Chocolate.” Huh? I placed my order and watched the Barista steam away 2% milk. To my disappointment, the recipe was overly sugary, yet thick. What happened to the Choco Bon Loco? My beverage wasn’t a drinking chocolate, but just as it stated on the menu, a “Hot Chocolate”. Maybe Au Bon Pain’s Choco Bon Loco fell to the way side like Starbuck’s Chantico?

Panera Hot Chocolate

After returning from a quick trip to Boston, I am exhausted. When I arrived on Thursday, the weather was quite crappy. It was misty and chilly. Perfect weather for a fire and hot chocolate. I made my way to the Panera Bread on Broad Street for dinner. You can always get a good meal at Panera, but I never had their hot chocolate before. So, for dessert I ordered a hot chocolate to go.

I noticed the Panera employee was using 2% milk which is better than skim. But I prefer the good old fat of WHOLE MILK!!! I forgot to ask what type of chocolate they used because I was brain fried from work. But I must say I enjoyed it. It was full-bodied and not overly sweet. I’ve always been a dark chocolate fan (searching for the Special Dark Chocolate in the Hershey’s Mix Bag) so it was nice that this wasn’t the typically sugary sweet hot chocolate.

This brew hit the spot as I walked back to the Hilton a few blocks away and enjoyed the rest of my hot chocolate in the comfort of my room.

Madagascar Vanilla & Hot Chocolate

Madagascar Vanilla & Hot Chocolate
For this last recipe, I decided to go down the drinking chocolate route using the last Vanilla of the Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Trio, Madagascar. This very thick drinking chocolate has 3/4 cup whole milk, 2 tbls Vanilla, 1 Cinnamon Stick, 1 Dylan's Candy Bar w/Nibs, 65% Cocoa, and 2 tbls Sugar.

To melt the chocolate bar, I used my trusty double boiler to avoid burning the chocolate and the milk. After the chocolate melted, I added my milk infused with the cinnamon stick and vanilla that was chillin' in the refrigerator. I blended the milk, chocolate and added the sugar to form a creamy mixture.

I served the boys this thick chocolately drink for them to try.... The verdict: Frank believes "it tastes just like a candy bar". Of course, I'm thinking. Micah enjoyed it, but it wasn't his favorite.

After a long day of creating hot chocolate the boys rated the hot chocolate made with Nielsen-Massey Vanilla as follows:
1. Mexican Vanilla Hot Chocolate
2. Madagascar Vanilla Hot Chocolate
3. Tahitian Vanilla Hot Chocolate

Y'all (opps that Texas influence) should try your own taste test.