HOLIDAY DECADENCE: GROWN UP HOT CHOCOLATE
To kick off the celebrating season, two of my girlfriends from college came and spent the weekend with us. We had a low-key few days, as it was raining and dreary, and they both were in need of some serious R&R. I loved having them perched on the bar stools in my kitchen while I finished up my holiday baking and cooked meals for them. To end our dinner the first night they were here, I mixed up a batch of this hot chocolate, a name which is really not appropriate.
This thick liquid is much more like dessert than any drink, and the amaretto turns it into an entirely grown-up affair. This recipe is based loosely on Ina Garten’s for hot chocolate, which my sister-in-law dearly loves. Ina says an immersion blender will make it frothy like cappuccino, but I don’t have one, and it tastes just as delicious to me without the foam. Patty, Lydia, and I found this hot chocolate to be the perfect staying-in dessert; all three of us slept very soundly after sipping such a warm, decadently rich concoction. Beware, though, it should be consumed in small quantities!
Grown-up Hot Chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup chocolate chips (I like the semi-sweet ones)
8 ounces amaretto (or to taste)
In a small saucepan, heat the cream and milk together until almost bubbling. Reduce the heat to low, add the chocolate chips, and stir until melted. In each mug, pour two ounces of amaretto (the bartender at a restaurant where I worked in college taught me to pour while counting one “Mississippi” for every ounce. In this case, pour while saying, “one Mississippi, two Mississippi”). Fill the rest of the mug with the chocolate, and stir once or twice. Makes 4 servings.
P.S. As you probably noticed from my sidebar message, I am leaving town today to visit family in Mississippi. I don’t know how regularly I’ll be able to post, but I hope to keep you updated on what fun food my family makes while we’re all together. If I’m not able to post while I’m gone, I promise a full update when I return after Christmas.