Italian Hot Chocolate Recipe - Thick and Decadent! (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient in gourmet hot chocolate? ›

Marshmallows: The Unsung Hero

Believe it or not, the secret ingredient in gourmet hot chocolate is none other than marshmallows. These fluffy, sweet confections are the unsung heroes of the hot chocolate world, adding a delightful creaminess and hint of sweetness that takes the drink to a whole new level.

Hot chocolate in Italy often has an almost pudding-like texture – lightweight espresso spooons sometimes even stand upright in the cup. Instead of water and powder, it's made with real pieces of chocolate, sugar, and milk. It's melted in special machines that mix the chocolate constantly to avoid burning and lumps.

Cornflour/Cornstarch: Mix a small amount with cold milk or water to create a smooth paste. Whisk this into your hot chocolate towards the end of the cooking process until it thickens. Double Cream: Stirring in a splash of double cream can instantly enrich and thicken your drink, giving it a velvety texture.

Unmatched for its creamy richness and density, cioccolata calda is like drinking a warm shake. Being less dense, American hot chocolate shares the same texture as a bowl of soup, even when it's made with milk.

The cornstarch version thickened quickly, making the hot chocolate very thick and creamy, and in the end we decided on a combination of cornstarch and confectioner's sugar, for the ideal texture and sweetness.

Italy is another European country that loves its thick hot chocolate. Their version of hot chocolate uses heavy cream and milk like the French. But unlike the French, they go an extra step by adding cornstarch to thicken the mixture even more. The result is a pudding-like consistency that is still pourable.

Hot chocolate is consumed throughout the world and comes in multiple variations, including the spiced chocolate para mesa of Latin America, the very thick cioccolata calda served in Italy and chocolate a la taza served in Spain, and the thinner hot cocoa consumed in the United States.

But not just any chocolate: A cup of thick and rich French chocolat chaud. This exquisite blend of butter, melted chocolate, and whole milk doesn't resemble anything similar to the murky, watery hot chocolate we're used to in America.

Full Cream Milk

Texture and Consistency: Its high-fat content ensures a sumptuously smooth hot chocolate, coating the palate with creamy delight.

How do you make hot chocolate not clumpy? ›

Make a paste with the hot cocoa mix and one or two tablespoons of the milk. Make sure all the cocoa mix is moistened, and then stir in the rest of the milk. Since it's already moistened, the cocoa mix will dissolve evenly into the milk. No dry clumps.

Fine-Tuning Texture

Many commercial mixes add soy lecithin or dried milk proteins to their powders, both of which are intended to increase creaminess and help keep the milk fat, cocoa butter, and liquids all nicely smooth and emulsified.

There is less milk and sugar added, more chocolate or cocao. The result is similar in taste and consistency to a melted 80% dark chocolate bar. The best part is that hot chocolate is widely available wherever you want it, at almost every bar in Rome.

Dense and creamy, nothing says winter in Italy like a rich cup of cioccolata calda– hot chocolate.

Gourmet chocolate tends to be sourced ethically, and is usually single origin, meaning the cacao came from just one country. The processing matters, too: High-end chocolate will be tempered to a smooth, glossy finish. There's typically a higher percentage of cacao as well (at least 70%).

Partially produced with genetic engineering. Place 2 tbsp (30 ml) hot chocolate mix in a mug. Add 170-230 ml (6-8 oz) boiling water or very hot milk. Stir well & enjoy!

Milk skin or lactoderm refers to a sticky film of protein that forms on top of dairy milk and foods containing dairy milk (such as hot chocolate and some soups).

To make powdered hot chocolate, the beans are soaked in alkali to increase their pH before roasting. Raising the pH to be more basic helps make the powdered cocoa more soluble in water. But when the beans are at a higher pH during roasting, it changes the Maillard reaction so that different flavors are formed.