Preparing Hot Chocolate Mix At Home

If you’re interested in taking online baking and pastry courses, you should also try your hand at creating your own hot cocoa mix. It’s easier than you might think to craft a fantastic, sweet concoction that puts the store-bought powders to shame. A homemade hot cocoa can make a rich and comforting complement to the desserts you are learning to cook, like angel food cake, roasted nuts or candied fruits. Plus, cocoa mix makes an excellent gift for any chocolate lover during the winter. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Choosing your ingredients
One of the advantages of assembling your own cocoa is that you can leave out all the preservatives and other added ingredients that go into the commercial varieties. Keep your mix simple if you’re after a straightforward, classic chocolate taste. For a very basic hot cocoa mix, all you need to do is whisk together 3.5 cups of sugar, 2.25 cups of cocoa powder and a tablespoon of salt, as Martha Stewart Everyday explained. If you like, add powdered milk for greater creaminess.

However, there is plenty of room for experimenting further with your cocoa mix, suiting the ingredients to your individual tastes. For instance, a recipe from Epicurious calls for blending in 3 ounces of chopped bittersweet chocolate, along with half a cup of cocoa powder. The result is a drink with a richer taste and creamier texture.

If you want to take your cocoa to the next level, blend in even more flavors. Add interesting contrasts to the chocolate with vanilla bean, coconut sugar or sea salt. The Kitchn suggested some more unusual mix-ins like a pinch of ground ginger, cardamom, black pepper, espresso or cayenne pepper. Any of these, or a combination, will give your final product a distinctive and intriguing touch that sets it apart from drinks made with mass-produced mixes.

Store properly
Stored in an airtight container, your cocoa mix can stay fresh for as long as a year, according to Alton Brown. Just be sure to keep the container in a cool place away from direct sunlight, such as a cupboard. If you don’t foresee any chocolate cravings coming soon, you can even freeze the mix for later use.

Prepare and serve
Once your mix is in place, it takes just a few minutes preparation to have a fantastic cocoa whenever you want one. Mix 3 tablespoons of mix into a cup of water, milk or your favored substitute, such as almond or soy milk. Heat the liquid in a pan on your stovetop or steam it. Pour the warm beverage into a mug and add your preferred toppings. Classic choices like whipped cream, marshmallows or cinnamon make pleasant additions to your hot chocolate, especially when combined with whatever mix-ins you selected.

Hot cocoa mix is simple to prepare and results in delightful beverages you can enjoy at your leisure, so try making a batch today. You’ll likely find that even though the mix can be stored until you need it, it goes quickly anyway.