Winter is the season of hot drinks, especially hot chocolate. But we don’t have to waste so much money in going to some fancy restaurant and ordering one, because it is very easy to make at home. And there are countless recipes, with many variations to suit everyone’s taste.

Here is a very easy hot chocolate recipe that is my favourite, as it combines two of my favourite flavours — chocolate and coffee. Hot chocolate recipes require different chocolates, since so many different kinds are easily available abroad. But here since we have limited variety, I simply used the regular milk chocolate we get everywhere, although the recipe asked for a semi-sweetened dark chocolate. And then I reduced the amount of sugar to one teaspoon of brown sugar since the chocolate was already very sweet, and it turned out perfectly!

Since it needs a bit of cooking on the stove, you can ask an adult to help you with that if you are not old enough to use stoves yourself.

Try this easy hot chocolate recipe and keep warm!

Ingredients

• 70 g dark chocolate, chopped

• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder

• 250 ml milk

• 1 teaspoon brown sugar, or to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

For garnish

• 1 tablespoon cream

• Marshmallows

Method

Take a saucepan or small pot, put the milk and all the other ingredients except the chopped chocolate. Whisk everything together and cook on medium flame until it begins to simmer.

Now take off the stove, add the chocolate and whisk well to melt it, then put it on the stove again. Cook it while whisking until it thickens a little, which should take about a couple of minutes at the most.

Pour in a cup and top with some whipped cream and marshmallows and serve immediately. You can also top with some chocolate curls or chocolate chips. This quantity is enough for one serving. n

The writer Instagrams @the_experimentalcook

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 29th, 2022