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)

Paradise in a Travel Cup

For some reason, I decided to make hot chocolate from scratch 15 minutes before I was suppose to walk out the door to start my commute to work. The theme of this hot chocolate masterpiece is…tropical.
To start this project, I selected Valrhona Cocoa Powder from France. Valrhona’s deep, reddish brown unsweetened cocoa powder is exceptionally fragrant and makes a wonderful cup of hot chocolate. Since the “Best By” date was April 2008, it was in my retail “expired” products box for me to create something, donate or discard. From there, I browsed the refrigerator for more inspiration. I pulled out a carton of Half-and-Half and a lemon. However, I needed a something to counter balance the lemon…LIME! Darn, no lime. But I had something even better…Key Lime and Myer Lemon Margarita Mix. The blend of Key Lime and Myer Lemon juice lacks alcohol, yet the flavor is intense.

The base of the recipe is as follows:
6 oz Half and Half
2 tsp Valrhona
Key Lime and Myer Lemon Margarita Mix
Sugar

Due to my time constraints, I planned on making only one formulation with 1 tbls of Key Lime and Myer Lemon Mix and 2 tbls of Demerara Sugar. However, after taking a sip of my masterpiece, I thought to myself, “too sweet.” Although I used Demerara Sugar, other sugars are fine. So, I elected to try to another formulation with less sugar.

The second recipe contained Half-and-Half, Valrhona, 1 tbls of Key Lime and Myer Lemon Mix and 1 tbls of Demerara Sugar. I planned on sharing this recipe with my friend that receives the many benefits of my hot chocolate escapades.

After creating two rounds of hot chocolate in my trusty double boiler, I poured the mini hot chocolate masterpieces into travel mugs. Too impatient to wait until I arrived at work, I snuck another sip. What a wonderful blend, but something was missing? Considering I hit the road 10 minutes late, I arrived at work on time and placed my friend’s hot chocolate on her desk. Since she had yet to arrive to the office, this will be a nice little surprise. I hope.

Without a hitch, she was in my office a few minutes with a coffee in one hand and my hot chocolate in another. How dare she bring coffee into my office :>. A discussion began over the newly minted recipe. She enjoyed the creaminess of the blend and the overall flavor. I mentioned how I thought my recipe was too sweet. She thought the sweetness was just right with one 1 tbls of sugar, but the recipe could use a little more tang from the Key Lime and Myer Lemon mix. I agreed. Too bad I am out of margarita mix to reconfirm our new findings. As for that mug of coffee, she was frowning while sipping it. After a blast of a zesty hot chocolate, nothing could compare.