Finding Hotel Chocolat

I just landed in Boston a few hours ago and I’ve already had a little tour of the area. During this trip I am staying at the historical The Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers on Park Plaza. Usually, I stay at The Liberty but it was sold out for this trip. The minute I landed, I was off to the Flour Bakery on Washington Street. However, the weather was gloomy and it started to rain. Typically I would say, “Who cares”. But the construction on Arlington and the Gay Pride Parade block off some of the roads. I am pretty savvy at navigating areas, but I didn’t want to risk getting lost in potentially bad weather. So, I watched the parade attendees dance in the streets for a hot moment and decided to have an early dinner at McCormick and Schmidt’s until the weather improved.

Church of the Covenant on Newbury

After dinner, I went back to my room to grab a hat and attempt to find H&M. On my way up and down Newbury Street I stumbled upon the Hotel Chocolat at 141 Newbury Street. Many moons back I blogged about their cacao plantation and hotel experience. Although I was disappointed I couldn’t get to Flour Bakery, this is a superb find. Upon entering the brightly light modern location, I searched the shelves for their hot chocolate. Opps! Excuse me, Hotel Chocolat calls it Liquid Chocolat. Their Carmel Chocolate caught my eye first. It has these cute little cream colored hearts mixed in with light brown chocolate shavings. I knew my husband would love this, but call me greedy. It is all about the Classic/Dark Chocolate. Hotel Chocolat also had an Aztec Chili Liquid Chocolat and pure cocoa powder. After an employee offered me a tasty heart shaped chocolate containing hazelnuts, I selected a jar of their Classic Dark Drinking Chocolate. What I loved best was that the jar was plastic. This makes it so easy to travel to my second destination prior to arriving at home.

I still have another night to get to Flour Bakery. I haven’t given up yet.

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.

Recipe: Apple Cranberry Crumble with Hot Chocolate Shavings

Had a little fun in the kitchen creating a fast and easy Apple Cranberry Crumble garnished with homemade whipped cream.

Recipe - 4 servings:
1/3 cup Apple Crisp Mix (from Concord Foods)
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled
1/4 cup Dried cranberries
1 bag Plain regular instant oatmeal

3 tsp Hot chocolate shavings (used Fran's Chocolate Shavings for this recipe)
3 tbls Sweet butter/butter
Heavy cream
Sugar


Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend the Apple Crisp Mix, hot chocolate shavings and oatmeal in a bowl.

Step 2: Peel and dice apples and add cranberries to a bowl. Add apple crisp mixture and blend.




Step 3: Pour apple mixture in a greased baking dish.

Step 4: Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.


Step 5: Serve in decorative dishes.


Step 6: Whip 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Add sugar to taste.


Step 7: Garnish with whipped cream.

Recipe Alert: Divine Intervention

Last night I was craving a white hot chocolate. That was extremely odd since I am not a white chocolate fan. As I pulled the ingredients to try a make a creamy white chocolate drinking beverage I couldn't find the white chocolate. I bet you the gremlin called my husband probably got to it when I was on a business trip. If so, he has improved his chocolate sneaking skills as I didn't catch on until it was too late. So, I changed my plans. My goal was to go deep and dark.

Making hot chocolate can no longer can be a messy adventure. We have a new dog now named Wally that we picked him up from a shelter a few weeks back. He is an absolute hoot! So, I must make sure to measure my chocolate/cocoa in the sink because chocolate/cocoa is not good for dogs.My inspiration lead me to retrieve Valrhona Cacao Powder, heavy cream, Mexican Vanilla, lemon curd, nutmeg, cinnamon and fine baker's sugar. I didn't have a clue where this was going to take me. But I was ready to get crackin'.

In the end, I created a dreamy dark drinking chocolate with Valrhona cacao powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla. My husband gave it a "10" and asked why "I didn't make more". Unfortantely, I only had 3/4 cup of heavy cream so this adventure came out to be very positive. Before we shared our lone glass of drinking chocolate, I decided to take a picture of this delectable creation.

Another star in the cocoa lady's hat for this one!
Divine Drinking Chocolate(Click here for a copy of my drinking chocolate recipe)

Microwave Chocolate Explosion

So, the chocolate beverage of the morning was Valor Taza to Go. Valor Taza to Go is the next generation drinking chocolate that arrived on the scene last year. It replaced one of the top selling drinking chocolates I had on my shelves, Valor CAO. The liquid form provides two cups of drinking chocolate. The downfall is that once you open the container you must indulge in the second cup within five days and the packaging lacks a closure to keep it sealed until your next cup.

I was already cranky from being up since 4:00 am this morning and I just knew a wicked cup of chocolate would whip me out of this funky mood. Upon opening the package, I poured the extremely thick drinking chocolate into a mug. It looked just like the pudding. The good thing is that I am accustomed to the thick texture as one of my favorite drinking chocolates was Mandarian a la Taza. To my dismay it is discontinued.

Valor has been making chocolate for over 125 years. We all know that in Spain, chocolates are done right! I didn't realize that Valor CAO was discontinued until I started receiving large orders of 5 and 10 units per order. Unfortunately, I had to call the last Valor CAO customer to let them know the cacao powder was officially gone. It was lights out for another popular hot chocolate.

Since I was preparing to donate the short-dated Taza to Go inventory, it provided the perfect opportunity to try a new drinking chocolate.

When I placed the mug into the microwave, I didn't pay attention to the time I entered. When the timer went off, I was preparing to dive in to some deep, rich chocolate. Upon opening the microwave door, I saw a hot chocolate mess. It looked like a glass chocolate molten cake. If my husband was home, he would probably use his finger to capture every last drop of this chocolate explosion.

After wiping up around the mug, I took a tiny sip. Wow! Way too hot. I waited for it to cool down a bit. Attempt number two was much better, however, I was like "hmmm". Attempt number three confirmed, this was not a drinking chocolate for me. Just to be sure, I will try it again as my over "nuking" make have contributed to the beverage's taste.

Cacao Reserve for All

Since I wanted to stretch the next couple of paychecks in order to get some work performed on our house, a decision was made to go to Wal-Mart for a little household shopping. As a die-hard Target girl I wasn’t pleased, but we must do what we got to do to get by.

Like any cocoa connoisseur, I had to browse the hot chocolate/ coffee/ tea aisle to see what selects were available for Wal-Mart shoppers. Cacao Reserve by Hershey’s Drinking Cocoa Premium Mix caught my attention. At a price point of $2.07 for 5 servings, anyone has the chance to try a drinking cocoa. Over the past year, Hershey has worked to distinguished themselves in the premium chocolate arena with the introduction of Cacao Reserve chocolate bars and cocoa mixes. Now, The Nibble provided a favorable review of the Cacao Reserve chocolate bars. However, they were not as fond of the drinking cocoa as they were the bar chocolate.

I guess I will have to try it himself to form my own opinion. But any hot chocolate can be doctored up to create a delicious drink.

A return to hot chocolate, Starbucks style

While shopping at my local Target, I noticed a sign displaying a trio of “Signature Hot Chocolates”. I thought to myself…hmmm. Starbucks is trying to lure in the “other” untapped customer again. Chocolate Connoisseurs.

A few years back, Starbucks introduced a drinking chocolate called Chantico. However, it was never fully adopted by the market. I can easily explain why. Most people truly believe hot chocolate is a water-based flavored drink with minimal cocoa content. Chantico, from what I understand, was extremely thick and along the lines of a European drinking chocolate. Clearly, people were not ready for such an extreme from what they were accustomed to… the dreaded instant hot chocolate!


I decided to try the Signature Hot Chocolate. You can tell I am not a Starbucks customer as I still refer to the sizes as small, medium and large. Oh, I am so uncouth! When my drink arrived, it had a mild layer of whipped cream on top. I simply love it that way. Too much whipping cream takes away from the overall drink. Starbucks receives 1 point for getting the whipped cream correct.

When I finally reached the creamy hot chocolate, I was nicely surprised. It wasn’t overly sweet, had a nice consistency and flavor. Starbucks 2 points . I hate to admit it, but I was pleased. If I am ever seeking a hot chocolate on the run and have a few dollars to spare, I will consider a hot chocolate stop at Starbucks.

Economy down, chocolate up

Although the global economy is struggling, chocolate sales are not. In Great Britain, sales for dark chocolate have double over the past two years. Chocolate sales in America’s chocolate mecca, Seattle, Washington, are extremely strong. Why? People wish to treat themselves with a little something sweet during these turbulent times.

Everyone knows when the cards are down people will either eat, drink, shop or participate in other unmentionable activities. According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Candy sales hit the sweet spot, the increased demand for chocolate is “a way to get through malaise induced by high food and gas prices.” Purchasing a chocolate kills two of those vices with one stone: shopping and eating. If you ask me, eating or drinking chocolate is the best way to ride out the roller coast of this unsettling global economy.

What's in your pantry?

My vast selection of hot chocolates were pushed out of my pantry last year and moved into it’s own little area next to the dining room. Now, my Bakers Rack is overflowing with hot chocolates. After having some of the tins/cans fall on the floor when someone walks pass, it appears I will have to have a hot chocolate marathon soon?

A true confession of a hot chocolate junkie!

Hot Chocolate Shopping Spree

During my last trip to California, I made my usual trip to Surfas Culinary store in Century City. Surfas is where I get all my ingredients to make my hot chocolate recipes. During this trip, I walked away with Anisette Sugar, Vosges la parisienne couture cocoa, Horlicks Original Do Not Disturb (not a hot chocolate) and danesi dancioc. Since I have yet to try any of these beverages, this should be quite interesting.

The Vosges la parisiene couture cocoa is ranked #2 on About.com’s “Top 10 Drinking Chocolate” list. As for the Horlicks Original Do Not Disturb, is a malted milk beverage from the UK. According to the jar, Horlicks is a sleep aid manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. With all of the drama in my life, I need something to calm my hyper self down at night. If this does the trick, I will definitely sing the praises of Horlicks. Lastly, danesi dancioc is from Rome, Italy. I do not know much about danesi dancioc. However, I have seen their adorable danesi caffe cups and saucers in a few stores.

Stay tuned for my tasting 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!

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?