A few summers ago, we were on vacation in Madrid and stopped
into a chocolateria that specialized in
churros. These foot-long, served hot, crispy churros (yumm, I’m all the sudden
hungry) came with a small cup of melted chocolate. My kids and I debated on whether we were supposed to drink
the chocolate, because it was served in a little coffee cup, or dip the churros
in it, because it was thicker than any hot chocolate we’d had before. We
decided on both, because it was delicious either way and we were determined not
to leave a drop behind.
 |
| Spanish churros and hot chocolate |
 |
| Chocolateria in Madrid |
Fast forward to this summer when I came across European
Drinking Chocolate from Sipping Dreams.
Loaded down with books, it was a tasty little surprise to find Tom and
Clover passing out samples of this liquid chocolate in the middle of Book Expo America.
Their European Drinking Chocolate is reminiscent of the
Spanish drinking chocolate from that Madrid side-street café. In the convenience of our own home in a
few minutes, we made a little cup of decadence. The chocolate comes in a solid bar, scored into 4 sections;
each section makes a 3-oz. serving.
You can make the whole bar and refrigerate any that happens to be left
over; I only made one square and saved the others so that I could make another
fresh cup at another time.
It was this easy:
 |
| The chocolate comes in a solid bar, scored into 4 squares. 1 square = 1 3-oz. serving. |
 |
| Heat 1 square and 1/4 cup of milk over medium heat until chocolate is melted & bubbly. Whisk constantly to make it smooth. |
 |
| Serve drinking chocolate with your favorite dessert and enjoy. |
You don’t need to add sugar (and I like things sweet), it’s
delicious as is. This drinking chocolate is just the right consistency to
either drink or dip. I paired it
with coffee for a great mocha. My
daughter tried it with marshmallows and strawberry. Both tasted good. And then on the company’s site, I found
this recipe for an Italian Cappuccino – the chocolate mixed with instant
espresso and then with crème de cacoa, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Kahlua,
vanilla, and Brandy – how could you go wrong with that?
Now, let me warn you: this is not for chocolate amateurs.
You have to like chocolate to like drinking chocolate. This is not “hot cocoa” like you give
your kids after a snow-y day; or perhaps you’re kids are really lucky and it
is. Drinking chocolate is thick and it’s thick – no Swiss Miss here. And don’t
try to cut calories by using skim milk or soy milk or water – you’d be missing
the whole point. This is for serious chocolate lovers only.
The chocolates are hand-made in a family-run shop out in
Oregon and are available for purchase in stores out that way or on-line for the rest of us.
Thanks to Tom & Clover for giving me a box to enjoy at
home!
As an alternative - if you'd like a drink in chocolate, check out this chocolate shot glass I had on a wine tour.
No comments:
Post a Comment