Chloe Doutre-Roussel's Spicy Hot Chocolate

My photography skills are quite limited when it comes to brownish liquids in white mugs, it seems. Trust me when I tell you that this tasted much, much better than it looks. Well, duh. Could a vanilla bean and chopped bittersweet chocolate and milk and cream and spunky spices and two spoonfuls of sugar all melted together into a warm, frothy drink really taste bad?

Of course not. But the real question here is, can I actually devote an entire post to a mug of hot chocolate? Has NaBloPoMo gotten me to sink this low?

Chloe Doutre-Roussel, the chocolate buyer for Fortnum & Mason and author of The Chocolate Connoisseur, was profiled in the New York Times Magazine last year as a choco-dependente (sadly, as hard as I try, moi aussi). Alongside her profile was a recipe for spiced hot chocolate (ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, and... licorice powder? Optional, thank God).

Last weekend, as a soothing cap to the Sunday evening blues, I made Doutre-Roussel's recipe (well, actually, it's her friend Ingrid's, but whatever). The recipe is a bit puzzling, what with the addition of two spoonfuls of filtered water and the 45-minute steepage time and the fact that a pinch of black pepper diluted in all that liquid does not for spicy hot chocolate make (spiced, maybe. Spicy? No).

But still, like I said before, melt all those tasty things together and you're likely to end up with something you wouldn't kick out of bed. (Which, incidentally, is where we drank our hot chocolate. Too much information?) The verdict, however, is that this really wasn't worth the trouble. Just go to City Bakery or to Paris for hot chocolate that will knock your socks off.

And now that I have entirely outdone myself with ravishing eloquence and (not so) rhetorical questioning, I leave you. Oh right, until tomorrow. Sob. Are you sick of me yet?

Spiced Hot Chocolate
Serves 4

1/2 vanilla bean
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons mineral or filtered water
1 pinch ground ginger
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch licorice powder (optional)
3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 teaspoons natural cocoa powder
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream

1. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and place the seeds and pod in a medium saucepan. Add the milk, water and spices and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Whisk in the chocolate and cocoa powder until melted. Add the sugar to taste and then the cream. Let cool for 45 minutes.

2. To serve, remove the vanilla bean, return to the stove, and whisk over low heat until frothy and warm. 

Comments

[David]

"go to...Paris"??

When can we expect you?

[lindy]

I used to be one for chocolate alone-no additions, except maybe orange peel. A recent insane infatuation with the Vosages Barcelona Bar has led to the embracing of many combos...including some heat, curry, etc. But I haven't tried them in hot chocolate yet.

Salt with chocolate is soooo good.. in korova cookies and the like, that I'm wondering about a Barcelona bar style hot chocolate. Maybe with almond-milk in the mix and a little sea salt sprinkled on top? Or around the edge, like a margarita (sp?) Maybe I've lost my mind here. Probably.

[Tanna]

Go to Paris - I was just there and now I only long to return.
I just assumed everyone drank hot chocolate in bed. Who doesn't?
And no I don't consider this sinking low - hot chocolate deserves a blog or two!
And well no I'm not tired of you yet.

[Melissa]

Luisa, for heaven's sake we are NOT getting sick of you!!! In fact I'm getting quite attached to these daily updates and might just find it hard to readjust to your "normal" schedule when you go back to it again... (And I posted on hot chocolate a while ago so what are you saying about me?? ;)

And Lindy, you most certainly haven't lost your mind. That sounds like a brilliant idea to me, maybe spiked with a little Amaretto as well?

[Maya]

LOL! And I am waging a whole campaign on hot chocolate -- WEEKLY blog updates, no less, on my hot chocolate journey! (I'm testing my way through a HC cookbook).
This recipe looks interesting, but because I am now an HC snob, I turn my nose up at the addition of cocoa powder!

[Molly]

A post on hot chocolate is most certainly NOT sinking low! In fact, I want MORE posts on hot chocolate - until you find one that you love, perhaps? Yes? Please? Or, on second thought, maybe you and I should just meet up at City Bakery and guzzle one together two weeks from today? xo

P.S. I'm loving your daily posts, my friend. Yaaaay for NaBloPoMo!

[RA]

Usually, this hot chocolate would be very enticing for November, but the mid-Atlantic has been hit with an odd streak of warm weather. Very strange.

And no, I am not sick of you at all! I was too weak-hearted to join in on this daily-posting endeavor, so I greatly anticipate what all of you brave souls end up posting. Press on! But only if you want to; I enjoyed the not-daily version of you just as much.

[RA]

P.S. I also take comfort in the fact that you struggle with food photography sometimes. It cheers up this amateur!

[Julie]

Mmm...what everyone who posted above me already said. Love the daily posts, and will miss them when NaBloPoMo is over. Oh, and licorice is gross. In any form. But in CHOCOLATE? ARRGGHHH.

[Cathy]

Just wanted to join the chorus in saying I'm totally loving the daily posts and most definitely not sick of you. I'm really curious about that licorice powder and wonder how it would go with chocolate. I found some on-line here (http://www.littledutchgirl.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=746) in what looks to be a very interesting shop. Wonder if you could sub powdered anise or fennel, or would that be really gross?

[Luisa]

David - sadly, not any time soon. Unless you know of a private jet I could hitch a ride on?

Lindy - I don't think you've lost your mind. I think you're onto something. I happen to think Korova cookies are among the best cookies ever, so if one could figure how to distill that taste into a beverage, well, one could be very happy indeed, no?

Tanna - I'm glad to hear that drinking hot chocolate in bed isn't considered completely self-indulgent, but rather a must. Thank goodness!

Melissa - Thanks, my friend. I should have noted that my posting on an unspectacular hot chocolate might be grasping a bit at strings, but I take it back! Au contraire, yours looked entirely creamy and fantastic and worth all the effort. :)

Maya - see, your hot chocolate posting actually has a point! And is quite interesting to boot.

Molly - Yes! Hot chocolate with marshmallows, very important, at CB in two weeks. That sounds like an awfully nice plan.

RA - I agree, isn't this weather here strange? Nice, but strange. And, well, it's awfully sweet of you to say all those nice things, and very encouraging too. Thank you!

Julie - hee. I think I agree.

Cathy - If you like liquorice flavor, then I do think subbing ground anise or fennel would work (would you do that in a spice grinder?).

Everyone - thank you for the encouragement! You're all too kind. I'm like the little choo-choo train that could when I read your comments.

[dicempise]

If you can't get your work done in the first 24 hours, work nights.

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[Metleldbroota]

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