Tips and Recipes ~ Part 1
If you follow me over on Instagram, you may know that I start each day with hot chocolate.
Yep, everyday. #ChocolateForBreakfast I’m going to share some recipes, some ideas, and some ways to get you excited to start your days with chocolate as well.
Most of the world start their days with coffee or tea, yet I choose chocolate. Coffee has that big caffeine kick that gets many people going, but I have never enjoyed the flavour nor the taste of coffee. To be fair I haven’t really given it a fair chance, but since I already have a relatively low caffeine diet, I don’t think now is the time to start adding coffee.
So, yes, I have chocolate for breakfast. Everyday. I may skip a few days in a year, but it is rare when that happens. Like people need their coffee, I need my chocolate. It’s not so much that my body is craving it, it is more that I enjoy it, and it is the ritual that begins my day. Okay, technically I usually have a glass of water right when I wake up, followed by some quiet reading, maybe a walk depending on the weather, or some relaxing until I drink chocolate about an hour after I wake up. I believe in slow mornings, and it works for me. There isn’t a rush to my mornings, and I love it.
How do I make my hot chocolate? Honestly it changes up a lot. I tend to go with my mood and see how I am feeling.
Often, it is simple. Simple is perfect for days when other things are going on, on days I am not feeling creative, or days when I just want to not need to think about how to make my hot chocolate. Here is my super simple way of making hot chocolate.
This is almost like a chocolate shot; it is not a lot of chocolate. It is just a few mouthfuls, which I enjoy mindfully as I sit somewhere comfy. It is rich, the flavours of the chocolate come out with nothing to mask them. I find this is the best way to highlight the flavours that are in really great chocolate.
The chocolate you use makes a difference. My preference is to use bean to bar chocolate, from a chocolate maker who I know supports cacao farmers and uses quality ingredients. I prefer chocolate with 2-3 ingredients for my drinking chocolate most days. Those ingredients being cacao beans, sugar, and cacao butter. No fillers, soy, or excess sugars or chemicals as I start the day.
To make the simple hot chocolate into a larger portion is also easy. I have a milk frother that plugs in on my counter next to my kettle and as my chocolate sits in warm water I add some milk, personally I use oat or almond milk, to the frother and let it warm up and froth. Once I have mixed the water and chocolate mixture I top it up with the frothed milk. This changes the flavour and makes the chocolate a bit creamier and dulls the flavours a touch. You may want to double the amount of chocolate you use if you want this to be richer.
For me, I prefer to drink my chocolate from a handmade mug that is slightly smaller in size than most coffee mugs. More of a cup style with no handle, ideally made of something that feels good in my hands. I have also been known to make it in a small espresso size mug.
Those are two of the simplest ways to make hot chocolate. Stay tuned for next week’s blog for part two with a few other ways to make some fancier hot chocolate.
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