Mexican Hot Chocolate
Milk simmered with dark chocolate, cinnamon and a pinch of chilli, whisked until frothy for a thick, spiced drink.
Photograph credit: Hot chocolate by stevepb · Pixabay Content License · Pixabay
The Method for Mexican Hot Chocolate
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Warm the milk and cinnamon stick in a pan over a medium heat for 5 minutes until steaming, not boiling.
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Add the chocolate, sugar, ground cinnamon and cayenne and whisk until the chocolate melts.
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Whisk hard for 1 minute until frothy. Remove the cinnamon stick and pour into mugs.
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Keep an Eye on These
- Do not let the milk boil.
- Whisk vigorously for the froth.
- Use Mexican chocolate discs if you have them.
About This Recipe
It is thicker, grainier and more cinnamon-scented than the hot chocolate of Europe, and the foam is the point. Mexican chocolate is sold in discs, made from roasted cacao ground with sugar and cinnamon, which gives it a coarse texture. It is melted into hot milk and whisked, traditionally with a wooden molinillo, until a layer of froth rises.
If you cannot find the discs, a mix of good dark chocolate with a stick of cinnamon in the milk does a decent job. Heat 500 ml of milk with the cinnamon stick until steaming, not boiling, for 5 minutes, which draws out the spice. Don't let the milk boil, because a skin forms and the flavour turns flat.
Add 60 g of chopped dark chocolate, a spoonful of sugar to taste and a tiny pinch of chilli powder or cayenne. Whisk with a balloon whisk or an electric frother for a full minute, until the chocolate melts and the froth builds.
The chilli should be barely perceptible: it adds warmth at the back of the throat, not heat. Pour into mugs, discard the cinnamon, and serve at once. A churro on the side is the classic accompaniment.
What to Serve It With
Churros · Sweet bread (pan dulce) · Tamales · Biscuits
Storing Leftovers
Best drunk straight away.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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