Mexican Drinking Chocolate Food

MEXICAN DRINKING CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• Put chocolate in a large bowl.
• Combine cream, vanilla beans (seeds and pods), cinnamon and chile powder in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat. Press vanilla pods against sides of pan to extract any remaining seeds and cream; discard pods.
• Pour cream over chocolate and stir until melted. Add corn syrup and almond extract; stir until smooth.
• Package in very clean 1 cup jars. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks.
• To serve, combine 1/4 c ganache (use a heated spoon to scrape ganache out of jar) with 1/2 c hot milk and stir until smooth.

CHOCOLATE CALIENTE: AUTHENTIC MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• The tablets of chocolate de mesa are usually divided into 6 to 8 wedges. Place each tablet on a cutting board and cut with a sharp knife into wedges. Don't worry if they don't cut perfectly-you are going to be dissolving the chocolate .
• Place milk in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Once the first tiny bubbles begin to appear in the milk, add the wedges of chocolate and continue heating, stirring slowly but constantly, until the chocolate has melted. Do not let milk boil; if it looks as if it is going to start boiling, take the pan off the heat for a few minutes, continue to stir, then turn burner down a bit and return pan to heat.
• Drink hot chocolate as is, or place in a blender , half of the amount at a time, and carefully blend mixture until the desired degree of frothiness has been reached.

CHAMPURRADO

Steps:

• Bring water, cinnamon stick, clove, and star anise to a boil in a saucepan; remove from heat and allow spices to steep until water is fragrant, about 10 minutes. Strain.
• Heat milk, chocolate, and pinole in another saucepan over medium heat, whisking until chocolate is dissolved and liquid is thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add piloncillo; let rest until sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes more. Pour cinnamon water into chocolate mixture and stir to combine.

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• Pour the milk into a medium saucepan, add the cinnamon sticks and stir frequently over a medium heat (don't let it boil) until the milk is fragrant, about 5 mins.
• Remove and discard the cinnamon sticks, then add the cocoa, vanilla, chilli powder and sugar. Remove from the heat and whisk until the mixture is smooth and frothy - this will only take a couple of minutes. Divide between two mugs and garnish with fresh cinnamon sticks.

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine milk, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla. Heat over medium until the mixture begins to steam, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
• While the mixture heats, cut or break up the chocolate into small pieces so it melts evenly. Once the milk is steaming, add the chocolate and whisk until it's melted and incorporated.
• Turn off the heat and discard cinnamon sticks. Use a molinillo or whisk to mix the hot chocolate vigorously until it's frothy, 3 to 4 minutes, or blend in a blender for about 2 minutes. Serve hot.