Bellissimo Houston

Minuti Coffee landed in downtown Houston.  Located on 909 Texas, Minuti Coffee serves up Italian coffee, espresso along with an array of other speciality drinks, baked goods, sandwiches and paninis.  The speciality drink that caught my attention is the Cioco Delice.  Made with Molinari chocolate steamed with milk to create a thick drinking beverage the Cioco Delice is, most likely, what many refer to as a European Drinking Chocolate.  Served with a dollop of whipped cream, the Cioco Delice can be enhanced with a dash of Mayan, Hazelnut and Chocolate Truffle flavors.

It appears a trip downtown is in order to investigate this Italian hot chocolate experience.

Hot Chocolate of the Day: Venchi's Hot Chocolate with Milk

I am back in California again! Yes! I enjoyed Venchi's Hot Chocolate with Milk from Italy before my departure to the golden state. However, I only had time to send out a quick tweet before my travels began.

One of the benefits of owning a store with an array of delicious hot chocolates is being able to sample them all. The Venchi hot chocolates are seasonal and, of course to non-hot chocolate aficionados, we are out of season. Clearly, this is nonsense! Nevertheless, the Venchi Hot Chocolate with Milk is made of 22% cacao and has a rich brown color. Unlike the traditional milk hot chocolates served here in the US, the deep color clearly shows the variance in what Americas and Europeans think is milk hot chocolate.

After the first sip, you can clearly tell this is not your typical milk hot chocolate. With a hint of sweetness, this hot chocolate would be appreciated by those that enjoy 70% or more chocolate beverages.

Would I indulge in this milk hot chocolate again? Surely! Make sure you do not eat something sweet simultaneously. A sweet or overly sweet item will cancel out the simple flavor of this hot chocolate.

Craving Chocolate Custard

With a craving for chocolate custard, I pulled out Venchi's cacao due vecchi (cacao powder) from Italy and Bird's Custard Powder from the pantry. I added a few teaspoons of cacao powder to the Bird's Custard Powder and proceeded to follow their directions.

I hope it tastes good!

danesidancioc

Husband out of town. House semi clean and a chill is in the air. Okay…this is Texas. Any time I am not running the AC is wonderful weather and it is the perfect time to try one of my new hot chocolates from my Surfas' shopping trip last month. On Friday night, it was danesidancioc night.

Since I cannot read a lick of Italian, I must wing it when it comes to creating a cup of hot chocolate. I opted to use 6 ounces of 1% milk and 1 tablespoon of danesidancioc. The chocolate has brownish, grey color with small pearly white sugar crystal peeking out from the cocoa goodness. Simply from the 1st glance, the danesidancioc hot chocolate mix is going to be just as I like it (not very sugary, very flavorful).

Since I’m in a hurry to indulge, I opted to use the microwave. I heated all 6 ounces of milk for 60 seconds. Added the tablespoon of hot chocolate mix and blended it with the milk. After heating the mixture again for another 35 seconds, I was preparing to enter heaven.

At the last minute, I opted to pull out two Sydney’s Cinnamon Plush Puffs. Personally, I enjoy my hot chocolate without marshmallows. However, tonight I was feeling adventurous.

I sipped half the hot chocolate without marshmallows and I experienced a tidal wave of scrumptious hot chocolate. Nice texture, wonderful scent and excellent taste. Once I reached about the 3 ounce mark, I dropped in the two cinnamon marshmallows. The cinnamon spice from the mallows intensified the hot chocolate and added a new level of taste.