Name: Hot Drinking Chocolate
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 6 cups
Ingredients: 100 g dark chocolate (Zartbitter), finely chopped; 100 g milk chocolate, finely chopped; 100 ml heavy cream; 1 L whole milk; 1 cinnamon stick; 50 g white chocolate (for shavings)

This isn’t the hot chocolate of your childhood — the kind you make from a packet with a kettle. This is the real thing: actual chocolate, melted into warm milk with a cinnamon stick, strained until silky, and topped with white chocolate shavings that melt on contact.

I started making this after my first Christmas market in Munich, where every other stand sells Trinkschokolade so thick you could practically stand a spoon in it. I wanted that at home, minus the standing-in-the-cold part.

The key is using good chocolate — a mix of dark and milk — and not rushing it. You let the cinnamon infuse the milk, melt the chocolate separately in cream, and bring them together gently. Six cups, maybe ten minutes, and suddenly your kitchen smells like a Viennese café.

The Recipe

Makes: 6 cups • Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

100 g dark chocolate (Zartbitter), finely chopped
100 g milk chocolate, finely chopped
100 ml heavy cream
1 L whole milk
1 cinnamon stick
50 g white chocolate (for shavings)

Instructions

Chop: Finely chop the dark and milk chocolate. Keep the white chocolate aside for garnish.
Infuse: Heat the milk with the cinnamon stick over medium heat until steaming but not boiling. Let it sit for a few minutes so the cinnamon can do its work.
Melt: In a separate small pot, gently warm the cream. Add the chopped dark and milk chocolate and stir until completely melted and smooth.
Combine: Remove the cinnamon stick. Pour the hot milk through a fine sieve into the chocolate-cream mixture, stirring constantly until everything is combined and velvety.
Serve: Pour into cups. Shave or grate the white chocolate over each cup. Serve immediately.

Notes

The better the chocolate, the better the drink. Use what you’d happily eat on its own.
For extra richness, use a higher ratio of cream to milk.
A tiny pinch of sea salt or a splash of espresso makes a surprisingly good addition.

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