A Hot Chocolate Hug, With or Without Snow

The hate came from New Jersey high school football days, when a cup of cocoa at halftime always started with a scalded tongue and ended with a taste reminiscent of brown crayons melted in boiling water.

The love came from my discovery much later of two magical places in Paris: Angelina, on the Right Bank, whose chocolat chaud is dark, elegant and intense, and le Boulanger des Invalides, on the Left Bank, near where I lived, whose chocolat chaud is thick, relaxed and dreamy.

For range, at least, New York’s hot chocolateries far surpass what I found in Paris. Where Angelina serves one classic hot chocolate, in New York you can find the drink in an unbelievable number of shades, fragrances and, yes, spices.

What New York can lack is the French flair for presentation. Too often, even fantastically flavorful hot chocolate is served inelegantly in paper cups with plastic spoons in noisy, cavernous spaces that make you wait in line.

Still, the taste is the thing, and there are some great-tasting cocoas here. One has to be that at Lily O’Brien’s, a Bryant Park cafe that is an outpost of the chocolatier of the same name in County Kildare, Ireland. The chocolate (milk, dark and white) in the basic beverage is Belgian, but look also for the specialty and winter drinks, which combine coffee, chocolate and other flavors.

I took a chance on the Salted Lily, hoping for a taste like that of my favorite Berthillon ice cream, caramel beurre salé. Wow, it sure was, all sweet and salty at once — until I stirred the drink (wooden stirrer, paper cup) and brought all the salt to the top. Lesson: don’t stir.

At Max Brenner, a spacious and busy child-friendly restaurant near Union Square, you can combine one of three chocolates (dark, milk, white) with a serving style (whipped cream, marshmallows, Italian thick, Mexican spicy) to create your own drink in funkily shaped vessels like the “hug mug,” perfect for cradling in chilled winter palms. (And it’s all kosher.)

My thick white hot chocolate was aromatic and smooth, and the dark with marshmallows was tasty and sweet, but the Swiss-style milk hot chocolate, my companion acknowledged, was a little too much like the Swiss Miss she grew up with.

The house specialty of Jacques Torres is spicy hot chocolate, called Wicked, which requires an adventurous palate that can appreciate the kick of chili peppers. (Mine does not.) Another inventive flavor, White Chai, which crosses white chocolate with Indian tea, was a surprisingly well-matched and tangy combination. Orange and peanut butter flavors are also the menu. Cafe tables look onto the chocolate makers in some locations. It’s too bad about the paper cups.

The Italians are no slouches at chocolate, either. They make Nutella, don’t they? And like Nutella, the Gianduja hot chocolate at Otto’s Enoteca Pizzeria is heavy on the hazelnut, which makes for a silky yet not sickly sweet drink. But Otto’s is essentially an Italian restaurant, and the cioccolata calda is found only on the dessert menu. This is appropriate, since my companion found it so rich that she couldn’t finish it, much like her first chocolat chaud at Angelina’s, she said. Otto also gets brownie points for a lovely presentation, with biscotti and whipped cream.

La Maison du Chocolat came pretty close to the Angelina’s experience, with a bubbly dark chocolate (Ecuadorean) so thick that it coats the sides of your cup. A perfect balance between bitter and sweet, it came with a hint of vanilla and proper china, as well as a glass of ice water and a dollop of cream on the side. An even darker Caracas hot chocolate is also available. The ambience is refined, but the package is très cher.

MarieBelle in SoHo is also very Parisian but in a different way: Service was slow, the servings were small and pricey, and the bill came with the tip included. But the taste was out of this world, with a white hot chocolate with vanilla that was buttery, sweet and creamy.

To get to the cozy Cacao Bar in the back, you must walk through the shop up front — that is, if you can pass by the exotic chocolates on display. MarieBelle’s other hot chocolate blends include Aztec, spicy (with chipotle, cinnamon and chili) and milk chocolate with hazelnut.

For creative flavoring, you can’t beat the City Bakery, but only in February, when each day brings a different concoction in the cafe’s annual festival. Consider seriously, however, whether you want to give up the frothy, thick deliciousness of the regular brew, which is served in something more like a bowl than like a cup (although, again, you are stuck with plastic spoons).

This year’s festival offers Darkest Dark Hot Chocolate (on Monday), Beer Hot Chocolate (next Friday) and Chinese Cinnamon Hot Chocolate (Feb. 25), among many others.

O.K., so the Gramercy Tavern is not really a hot chocolate joint. But I just had to try its hot chocolate martini. It’s a winner. The tavern’s regular hot chocolate is blended with Stoli Vanil vodka and amaretto, and poured from a small pitcher into a stemmed glass, making a fabulous almond-accented after-dinner-drink-dessert.

Salted or spiked, and even without the usual bitter chill to escape from, a good, thick, European-style hot chocolate can melt away whatever ails you, if only for the moments it takes to sip and sigh through one.

Where to Find the Dark, the White and the Spicy

CITY BAKERY $5 for a regular cup of hot chocolate; $5.50 for the daily flavor; 3 West 18th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 366-1414, thecitybakery.com.

GRAMERCY TAVERN $14 for a hot chocolate martini; 42 East 20th Street, Flatiron district; (212) 477-0777, gramercytavern.com.

JACQUES TORRES $3.25 and up; various locations; mrchocolate.com.

LA MAISON DU CHOCOLAT $8; various locations; lamaisonduchocolat.com/en.

LILY O’BRIEN’S $4.50 and up; 36 West 40th Street, Manhattan; (212) 575-0631, lilyscafenyc.com.

MARIEBELLE $6 for a small cup; $8 for large; 484 Broome Street, SoHo; (212) 925-6999, mariebelle.com.

MAX BRENNER $5.95; 841 Broadway, between 13th and 14th Streets, near Union Square, East Village; (646) 467-8803, maxbrenner.com.

OTTO’S ENOTECA PIZZERIA $5.50; 1 Fifth Avenue, at Eighth Street, Greenwich Village; (212) 995-9559, ottopizzeria.com.

Chocolate with Bill & Sheila

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Your hot chocolate could taste better

Rip open a packet of Swiss Miss and combine it in a mug with some microwaved water. That’s hot chocolate. Or is it? Once in a while, a cup of hot chocolate at home could be special. An event, almost. To make it so, try these recipes.

Hot Chocolate

By Kim Ima of the Treats Truck in New York, in ‘The Treats Truck Baking Book’ (HarperCollins, $21.99)

Makes 2 servings

2 cups milk

1/2 cup half-and-half

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/3 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like it

Whipped cream or marshmallows for serving

Over medium heat, warm the milk in a small saucepan. Whisk in the half-and-half and cocoa powder. Add the chocolate and sugar, and froth with the whisk until the chocolate is melted and the milk is hot. Take off the heat. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream or marshmallows. Variation: Make it a mocha – add fresh hot coffee, espresso or instant espresso powder to your liking.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

By Food Network host Marcela Valladolid, in ‘Mexican Made Easy’ (Crown, $27.50)

Makes 4 cups

4 cups whole milk

1 3.1-ounce disk of Mexican chocolate

Bring the milk to a simmer in a large heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chocolate, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly to develop froth and completely melt the chocolate.

Tip: If substituting bittersweet or other chocolate for Mexican chocolate, add ground cinnamon and a few drops of almond extract. Some recipes also suggest a little chili powder and salt.

Chocolate with Bill & Sheila

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Jack Hollingsworth/Photodisc

Hot chocolate tastes even better when you make it from scratch.

Homemade hot chocolate is a cup of comforting nutrition

Even though we’ve had a relatively warm winter, our January nights are still chilly, and a warm drink is welcome and soothing. A cup of delicious hot chocolate delivers this kind of comfort.

Even though we sometimes equate chocolate with unhealthy foods, it gets some strong nutritional kudos.

Cocoa is packed with antioxidants. In fact, polyphenols make up more than 10 percent of the weight of dry raw cocoa beans. On the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity scale, which measures the antioxidant power of a food, cocoa ranks very high. At 8,260 ORAC units per serving, cocoa is only a little bit behind blueberries (8,708 ORAC units per serving) and ahead of blackberries (7,500 ORAC units per serving) and red grapes (1,764 ORAC units per serving).

Like other antioxidants, polyphenols help to decrease free radical formation in our bodies. They also can help to increase circulating nitric oxide, which seems to help prevent fatty deposits on the insides of blood vessels. This can help lower risk for heart disease due to artery blockages.

Cocoa has a fair amount of fat, but a little more than a third of its fat is either the mono- or polyunsaturated type. Of the saturated fat that cocoa contains, more than half comes from stearic acid, a saturated fatty acid that seems to have no effect on blood cholesterol. This is different from most types of saturated fatty acids, because when we metabolize stearic acid, our bodies convert it into an unsaturated fatty acid, neutralizing its potentially harmful effects.

Cocoa also has a lot of copper. One tablespoon of cocoa has a little more than 9 percent of the copper recommended daily. Additionally, cocoa has significant amounts of magnesium. Both of these important minerals help protect our heart from disease.

There are a variety of other naturally occurring chemicals in chocolate, including theobromine and phenylethylamine.

Theobromine is a mild stimulant and a mild diuretic. Phenylethylamine seems to elevate mood by increasing dopamine and adrenaline levels in the brain. Theobromine is the reason you should not give chocolate to animals, because they can’t break it down very quickly. It stays in their system for a much longer time than it does for humans, and can cause diarrhea, vomiting, digestive problems, seizures, rapid heart rate and even death.

While you may be most familiar with making hot chocolate from a packet of a commercialized mix, I’m betting once you try making your own, you’ll be a convert.

It’s really not hard to make. Just mix a little of the milk with the rest of the ingredients to make a slurry, then when you combine it with the hot milk it should disperse evenly and not be lumpy. If you skip making the slurry and just try to combine everything and heat it up, you will have lumps of cocoa powder that won’t dissolve. The flavor is also much richer when you make your own.

If you don’t use the optional coffee liqueur in the recipe, you may need a bit more sugar than the recipe calls for. Taste and adjust before you pour it into mugs and serve.

Of course, feel free to experiment by increasing or decreasing the vanilla and cinnamon, using a sweetener instead of sugar, or using soy or other type of milk. Then sit back with your steaming mug of chocolate, snuggle in for the night, and enjoy.

Megan Murphy is a Tennessee-licensed registered dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Call 277-3062, fax 529-2787, e-mail [email protected].

Frothy Hot Chocolate

4 1/2 cups low-fat (1 percent) milk

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup coffee liqueur, such as Kahlua or Tia Maria (optional)

2 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Whisk together 1/2 cup milk, sugar, coffee liqueur (if using), cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon in a small bowl until a smooth paste forms. Heat the remaining 4 cups milk in a medium saucepan until steaming. Remove from heat and whisk vigorously. Whisk the cocoa mixture into the milk and pour into mugs.

Makes 4 servings (about 1 1/8 cups each).

Per serving (without liqueur): 149 calories, 4 gm fat, 2 gm saturated fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 22 gm carbohydrates, 1 gm fiber, 6 gm protein, 94 mg sodium.

– Source: eatingwell.com

Chocolate with Bill & Sheila

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The Best Hot Chocolate Mixes

Hot chocolate may be one of the best things about winter. While you can drink hot chocolate year round, a warm, steamy cup of hot chocolate is best served when watching your favorite holiday film by the fire. Of course, hot chocolate is also the perfect dorm room drink — particularly a necessary companion to finals studying! One of the best things about hot chocolate is that it is easy and convenient to prepare with the abundant array of mixes that are available — simply add water or milk and microwave.

We’ve tested brands to find the best packs to keep around — read on for our verdicts!

**SKC’s Picks**

Best Marshmallow Mix

The perfect addition to hot chocolate: marshmallows! This Swiss Miss Marshmallow Lover’s mixmakes for a convenient drink – easy to prepare in a dorm room microwave, add the separate packet of marshmallows and voila, marshmallow heaven.

Best Frozen Hot Chocolate Mix

Recreate Serendipity’s famed frozen hot chocolate drink at home with this mix. All you need is milk, ice and a blender. And maybe a toasty fire to sit by while you sip this frosty concoction. {Bonus: this makes a great gift for roomies and friends.}

Best Flavor-Infused Mix

A classic mug of hot chocolate is hard to beat, but hot chocolate flavored with peppermint or salted caramel is all the better. Willams-Sonama’s peppermint and salted caramel hot chocolate mixes make for extraordinarily good drinking. This too could be gifted, preferably to a generous friend so you can also taste the deliciousness.

Best Mexican-Style Mix

Nestle’s Abuelita mix is reasonably priced and available at most grocery stores. The Abuelita Mix is infused with real cinnamon for an authentic Mexican drink. Perfect to serve at your next fiesta with friends!

Best Splurge
Jacques Torres’ hot chocolate mix is a little on the pricey side, but Mr. Chocolate doesn’t use cocoa powder – only real chocolate – so you are in for a rich, decadent treat. Serve this drink in lieu of a traditional dessert at a holiday dinner.

— Caroline Ariail for Small Kitchen College
Caroline Ariail is a senior at the University of Georgia where she studies journalism. She prefers hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows and whipped cream!

Chocolate with Bill & Sheila

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November 25, 2011 2:00 PM

(credit: intelligentsiacoffee.com)

Best Hot Chocolate In Chicago

There’s nothing like a steaming mug of hot chocolate during Chicago’s long stretch of cold weather to give you some warm fuzzies. Whether you’ve been building snowmen all day or shopping in the city for holiday gifts, there are a few places that are offering up a good serving of hot cocoa to keep you deliciously warm.

(credit: cafeselmarie.com)

Café Selmarie

4729 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
773.989.5595
[email protected]
www.cafeselmarie.com
Monday 11am – 3pm (serving lunch)
Tuesday – Thursday 8am – 9pm
Friday – Saturday 8am – 10pm
Sunday 9am – 8pm (serving brunch) Dinner service begins at 3:30 – 8pm.

Located in the heart of Lincoln Square, Café Selmarie opened in 1983 as a small bakery. They now offer breakfast, lunch and dinner along with all of their bakery goods. But, it’s their hot chocolate that you really must taste while you are here. They serve you a big mug of frothy, chocolaty steamed milk with a thick layer of fresh whipped cream made in house. You first spoon the whipped cream out and eat it, then on to the frothy second layer before you make it to the third layer of smooth hot chocolate. It’s heaven in a mug.

(credit: intelligentsiacoffee.com)

Intelligentsia

53 E. Randolph St.
Chicago, Illinois 60601
312.920.9332
www.intelligentsiacoffee.com
Monday-Thursday: 6 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Friday: 6 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Saturday: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sunday: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Better than Starbucks hot chocolate? Yes. (Although the Starbucks holiday peppermint hot chocolate is pretty good.) They used steamed milk with a taste of pure cocoa on your first sip. Frothy and goes down smooth. It’s also not so hot that it burns your tongue on the first taste. I was slightly disappointed though that in the Loop I had to spend $3.75 for only 8 oz of hot chocolate. Nevertheless, it was a good pick me up.

(credit: iguanacafe.com)

Iguana Café

517-19 N. Halsted St.
Chicago, IL 60622
Phone: 312-432-0663
iguanacafe.com
Monday – Thursday: 7 a.m. – 12:30 a.m.
Friday: 7 a.m. – 2 a.m.
Saturday: 8 a.m. – 2 a.m.
Sunday: 8 a.m. – 12:30 a.m.

Located in the River West neighborhood, Iguana Café has been open in Chicago since June 2001. They serve their famous crepes and paninis in a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. This year they were voted the Best of Chicago award in the category of Cafes and Creperies. Come here to sit back and relax and enjoy their hot cocoa for only $2.50. Don’t forget to go total European and order a crepe to go with it.

Kopi Travelers Café

5317 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: 773-989-5674
Monday-Thursday: 8 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Friday: 8 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. – 12 a.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 11 p.m.

Up in Andersonville, Kopi Travelers Café is serving Mexican hot chocolate. Unlike the American way of a watered down version, Mexican hot chocolate is incredibly thick. If you’re looking to try a different style of hot chocolate then this is the place to check out. Their mug of hot chocolate resembles more chocolate than liquid.

Dunkin Donuts

www.dunkindonuts.com

Sometimes it’s so cold Downtown and the wind is so fierce that you’re looking for a quick pick-me-up. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced way to stay warm and it still tastes good, I suggest making your way into any of the Dunkin Donuts downtown for a good cup of delicious warmth. Might as well pick up a doughnut too while you’re at it. A little more fat will keep you warm too.

(credit: parkgrillchicago.com)

Park Café

11 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60602
Phone: 312-521-PARK
www.parkgrillchicago.com

If you’ve been ice skating all afternoon, you’re bound to need to take a hot chocolate break. The hot chocolate isn’t out of this world amazing, but the views and the ambiance of being in the city on a winter’s day is sure worth the trip. And taking a break to watch the other skaters is guaranteed good entertainment.

Home

I grew up making snowmen outside, tobogganing at Bemis Woods at night and snow forts. I’d come in sit by the fire and either drink Swiss Miss hot chocolate or the good ole standby of Hershey’s chocolate syrup and milk. The benefit of making it at home is that you can add as much chocolate, marshmallows, sprinkles and whipped cream as you want. Sometimes, it’s too cold to make the trip outside to the café, so having a box mix at home is just as good. Plus the memories with your kids are even better.

1 Comment

Toonces

Starbucks makes a mean hot cocoa; try it with skim milk and whipped cream!

November 25, 2011 at 11:29 pm | Reply |
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