Give me a Z for Zippy!

My apologies for obsessing about Horchata. However, I must say a quick Colombian Hot Chocolate made in a blender turned into a family love affair. I selected SOL Chocolate de Mesa con Azucar Morena or Table Chocolate with Brown Sugar from Columbia to make a hot chocolate with Horchata.

Since table chocolate has a grainer texture than our typical American chocolates, I always use a blender for simplified blending. After one square of the SOL chocolate was cut, I heated the Horchata in the microwave for 1 minute and 20 seconds. Next, I added the Horchata and the SOL chocolate to the blender and hit the pulse button a few times. Tada! Instant frothy hot chocolate. I poured my frothy blend into a mug and placed it in the microwave for another minute.

Immensely pleased with the combination of zippy flavors, I proceeded to enjoy a second cup. When my husband came in, he indulged in a cup of this Colombian brew.


Horchata and SOL Chocolate de Mesa con Azucar Morena has officially become a household favorite!

Recipe:
1 cup Horchata
1 tablet of Central/South American or Spanish Chocolate (SOL is preferred)

Deviation can be good

Deviating from a recipe can occasionally create a fabulous new one. I’ve done it many times before with delicious results. This evening I decided to make chocolate chip cookies with E. Guittard Fair Trade Certified Akoma Extra Semisweet Chocolate Chips made with 55% cacao. Unfortunately, I was out of brown sugar so, I opted to use Dark Muscovado Sugar which contains 100% pure cane sugar from Mauritius. Normally, I bake with margarine (I know Paula Deen wouldn’t approve of this), but this time I actually had unsalted butter in the refrigerator. Instead of the typical pure vanilla, I used Tahitian Vanilla.

Although the changes were minor, the dough color was a little deeper and consistency thicker and chunkier than normal. The final cookie maintained it’s chunky shape and each batch came out the same. Tomorrow, I will be shipping them to some family members for their insight. We enjoyed them in our house and if all is well, I will keep the substitutes a standard in my chocolate cookie recipe.

Sassy Sugars

It is amazing how a sweetener can play such a vital role in a hot chocolate. On my last Surfas shopping trip, I also purchased a few different sugars to enhance my drinking chocolate experience: Muscavado, Demerara and Caster Sugar.

Muscavado is derived from cane sugar juice which gives it it’s a deep, dark color. Muscavado is stickier than traditional brown sugar and is commonly used in cookie recipes. Demerara Sugar looks like golden colored sugar crystals and is derived from Cane Sugar. Demerara is recommended for use as a crème brulee topping, desserts and as a crunchy confectionary topping. Also, referred to as “Turbinado” sugar, Demerara sugar is commonly used in Europe as a coffee sweetner. Caster Sugar is a fine sugar that dissolves quickly in liquid. It is excellent for ice teas and meringue desserts. I prefer to use Caster due to it’s fast dissolving characteristics and pleasant flavor.

In addition to Demerara, Muscavado and Caster Sugars, here are a few more to try in your next hot chocolate recipe:

Honey
Brown Sugar
Splenda – A sugar substitute
Anisette


Palm Sugar and Stevia are two other sweeteners I found, but have yet to try in a recipe.