Since there have been a few recipies given lately I thought I'd add one of mine. It's a good one in the winter.

This is my attempt at coming close to the now discontinued "chantico" drinking chocolate that Starbucks sold for a while.

Warning:
Not recommended if you like sweet milk chocolate and dislike dark bittersweet chocolate.

Warning:
Keep away from children. My 9 year old test subject (who loves hot chocolate) said it tasted bad.

Top secret non copyright recipe

Ingredients:

(makes approx) 8 oz serving

2 Tablespoons Safeway brand European Cafe Style Hot Cocoa (dark chocolate)

2 teaspoons Droste Holland cocoa

2 teaspoons (to taste) sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Instructions:

Mix ingredients in bottom of small titanium (of course) pot/drinking mug. Add just enough water while mixing to make a thick smooth paste. When all of the chocolate powder is incorporated and smooth, add approximately 8 oz of cold water and set pot/mug on stove. Heat to boiling while stirring. Carefull not to overboil. When it starts to boil over, raise pot from stove to prevent boil-over. Continue to boil for about 30 seconds to a minute. Mixture should be a thick, like melted chocolate.

Edited by dag4643 on 12/07/2006 19:56:57 MST.

awesome recipe - thanks for sharing

I can honestly say that I am a sucker for dark hot chocolate

Daniel,
Thanx. I going to try this as soon as I get back from the grocery store.

well I just made this and is it ever tasty - I don't have a Safeway up here so I substituted another dark hot cocoa mix... you know this is delicious and reminds me a little of Cocoa Camino (a free trade dark cocoa that I adore).

I am looking forward to making the recipe. I have a suggestion that might make it easier to make and avoiding the boil over problem.

Substitute 1 tablespoon of potato starch for the cornstarch.
Put the cocoa mix in an insulated mug and mix the powder togther avoiding any lumps.
Add 1 cup of boiling water to the cocoa mix, stir, cover, and wait about 5 minutes.

This should give you a nice thick drink. You may have to adjust the potato starch amount to your recipe to get the desired thickness

Most grocery and Asian food stores carry potato starch.

Thanks for sharing!

Potato starch: I'm going to have to try that. We shop at lots of Asian markets that are close by to us so I'm going to have to buy some to experiment.

Thanks!

I make cocoa on the stove at home, but buy the (chemical-laden) instant for when I'm away.

I just ran across a recipe for instant from scratch. Basically the secret to liberation from the saucepan is to use powdered sugar. The following is from foodnetwork.com

Hot Cocoa
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Art of Darkness II: Cocoa

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
Hot water

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and incorporate evenly. In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water.

Fill your mug half full with the mixture and pour in hot water. Stir to combine. Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps indefinitely in the pantry. This also works great with warm milk.

My favorite chocolate drink for backpacking is as follows:

Into a Ziplok snack size baggie place:

Two heaping teaspoons of Ghirardelli Chocolate Mocha Hot Cocoa mix.

One quarter envelope of Milkman dried milk powder.

Add ground cinnamon or perhaps a little ground nutmeg to taste.

On the trail:

Dump dry mix into insulated cup, add boiling water and stir.

Sit back in your SlingLight chair and sip and sigh, while you enjoy the rising/setting sun.

Pretty easy to make ones you can whip in your mug with no time on a stove :-) Here are some that are up on my site:

In Your Face Morning Mochas:

In a large bowl at home mix together:

1 1/4 cups instant milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 to 4 Tbsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

Bag in 1/2 cup portions. This will make about 6 servings. 2 Tbsp of espresso powder will provide a sweet mocha flavor, 4 Tbsp will give you the "bite" of a double shot.

To prepare:
Put one bags worth into your mug. Add 1 cup boiling water slowly to the mix, stirring well. Sip away and wake up!


Peanut Butter Hot Cocoa:
Mix together in a bowl at home:

1 cup sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup dry milk
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Split into individual servings of 1/3 cup and store in snack bags.
To make:
Add 1 cup of water to a bag, in your mug. Stir until peanut butter chips have melted and mixture is smooth.

Approximately12 servings.

Notes: If you use Nido® or similar high fat dry milk, store the mix in your refrigerator till trip time.


Sugar Free Spicy Cocoa Mix:
Mix together in a bowl at home:

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup low-fat powdered nondairy creamer
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
10 packets sugar substitute
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Divide into 8 servings of 1/3 cup mix each, and store in snack size bags.

In your mug add 3/4 cup boiling water to a bag of cocoa mix. Stir well to dissolve.

Makes 8 servings total. A nice way for diabetics and those who like faux sugar to make their own cocoa mix up quickly at home.


Winter Cocoa:
At home mix together:
1 4 serving box of instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups dry milk

Split into 6 servings. Each serving takes 1 cup of boiling water. Stir well and enjoy! You can use sugar free pudding mix if desired, to cut pack weight. Whole fat dry milk (Nido®) works well here. If you use whole fat milk, store your mix in the refrigerator till leaving.
Serves 6.


Mocha Coffee Mix:
At mix together:
1 1/4 cups instant coffee granules
7 cups dry milk powder
5 3/4 cups powdered chocolate drink mix
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 3/4 cups powdered non-dairy creamer

Store in an airtight container.
Add 1/4 cup mix to 1 cup boiling water and stir well.
Makes 64 servings.


Rich Trail Cocoa:
At home mix together:
1 lb instant cocoa mix
6 ounces nondairy creamer
8 quarts (11 cups) instant dry milk
2/3 cup brown sugar

Store in an airtight container.
Add 1/3 cup mix to 1 cup hot water. Stir well.