Imagine wandering down cobbled streets in Paris on a cold December night. You enter a cafe, pull out a rustic chair and order the "chocolat chaud". It comes to your table steaming and with a spoon to stir and sip the dense brew. Ahhhh, French Hot Chocolate!
A Christmas tradition
This French hot chocolate recipe, like Italian hot chocolate, or Spanish hot chocolate is thick -- it's magical. Now you can create the same creamy hot chocolate at home. One of our Christmas traditions is making (and drinking) "French Hot Chocolate." Our dear friend Shelly Ashby taught us how to make it years ago while living in Baton Rouge, and it's been a family tradition ever since.
Chocolat Chaud
Chocolat Chaud (Hot Chocolate in French) is known for being rich and thick. We like to whip up a batch of the base and leave it in the fridge so we're ready to serve at a moment's notice. Once made, the fluffy chocolate base will stay fresh about a week in your refrigerator.
How to make French Hot Chocolate
How to make French Hot ChocolateIt's an easy recipe with just a few steps. Melt baking chocolate with water, add sugar and salt and bring it to a boil. Let it boil 4 minutes. Set the chocolate aside to cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, whip cream until stiff.
- Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate mixture. Don't put the cream in if the chocolate it still warm. It will melt!
2. Also, don't let the chocolate get cold as it will be difficult to fold into the whipped cream.
3. As you fold these the whipped cream and chocolate together, try to keep the air in the cream by gently lifting your spoon or spatula up through the mixture and then softly back down again until everything is incorporated.
4. Now you have the base mixture which you can cover and refrigerate until you're ready to serve. When ready, heat milk. Pour about 6 ounces of milk in a cup and add 2 heaping tablespoons of the chocolate mousse mixture.
Let the chocolate melt into your milk -- it's like a pillow of chocolate. You can gently stir it and take sips or little spoon-fulls as you go. Better than any whipped hot cocoa recipe or hot chocolate bombs, it's like warm chocolate mousse in a cup!
This French Hot Chocolate is decadent; it's really the best homemade hot cocoa you'll ever try. Once you've had it, it's hard to turn back. Maybe it will become a tradition at your house too!
Enjoy!
Dianna
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French Hot Chocolate
Ingredients
- 4 1 oz. squares unsweetened baking chocolate (1 bar package)
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- Hot Milk 1 gallon
Instructions
- Melt chocolate with water on low heat, stirring constantly. Add salt and sugar and bring to a boil. Cook 4 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, whip whipping cream until stiff and fold into cooled chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- To serve, put a cup of hot milk into mug. Add 2 heaping spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture and let it melt into milk.
Shannon says
This is the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted! Thank you for sharing the recipe! I'm so excited to make it for my family.