Hot Chocolate

For the most part, my hot drink of choice is tea; strong, plain tea, with milk. There are times, though, when I want something more substantial. Sweeter. And chocolate. On these occasions I usually heat a cup of milk with a spoonful each of cocoa and sugar and am perfectly happy with it. But in the depths of winter I like the added warmth and creaminess of a mug of chocolate made with ganache. I often make a batch to give away as gifts, and always make sure to save some for us.

Hot Chocolate

For the ganache:
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (your favorite variety)

Heat the cream just to boiling. Add the chocolate and stir until it is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and glossy.

Cool. You can store it like this in the refridgerator and scoop it out as needed, but I always make mine into individual portions to store in the freezer or to package for gifts. When it is cool enough to handle, but will hold its shape, use a spoon or small scoop to form  individual balls of about 2 tablespoons each. Wrap the chocolates individually and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

To make hot chocolate, use one ball of chocolate per 6-8 ounces of milk. Heat on the stove, stiring occasionally until the mixture is hot and the chocolate is completely melted.

Simple Chai Spice Blend

I may be a bit late to the Chai Spice party, but I have finally arrived.  For the most part, I prefer my tea unadulterated, other than the addition of a splash of milk, and I wasn't a fan of the prepared chai  concoctions with their many ingredients I prefer not to ingest on a regular basis. However, I do like hot chocolate and as the summer transitions into fall, I thought the addition of a little spice would be a welcome change. 

I started experimenting with creating a blend of my own emphasizing spices that I particularly like or would like to use more of. The blend I came up with is quite simple and though I make no claims to authenticity, I like it fairly well as it is, though I will likely tweak it further whenever I feel the need for a change. I usually use about an eighth teaspoon per cup of liquid. 

2 teaspoons each ground cinnamon, ginger and cardamon
1 teaspoon each coriander and turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
dash each of white pepper and cayenne