Hot Cocoa Recipes
A comfort food that's good for you! Fun facts on this winter treat, plus
three delightful recipes from some of the world's foremost chocolate makers...
I never associated hot cocoa with good health. It was just a better, lower fat
alternative to an intense craving for, let's say, ½ pound of dark chocolate
devoured in one sitting, or a really big slice of Mud Pie.
But recently, hot cocoa has been elevated to a new status: Health Drink.
Recently, researchers at Cornell University have found that cocoa teems with
antioxidants that prevent cancer. In fact, cocoa has nearly twice the
antioxidants of red wine and up to three times those found in green tea.
This discovery surprised even the researchers: "If I had made a prediction
before conducting the tests, I would have picked green tea as having the most
antioxidant activity," says Chang Y. Lee, chairman of the Department of Food
Science and Technology at the university's New York State Agricultural
Experiment Station in Geneva, NY, who led the team of researchers in the study.
Faced with the choice of drinking red wine, green tea or hot cocoa, Lee suggests
enjoying all three in different parts of the day: "Personally, I would drink hot
cocoa in the morning, green tea in the afternoon, and a glass of red wine in the
evening. That's a good combination," he says.
However using this good news as an excuse to polish off more chocolate bars is a
no-no: "Although a bar of chocolate exhibits strong antioxidant activity, the
health benefits are still controversial because of the saturated fats present,"
researchers of the study write. They explain that cocoa has about one-third of a
gram of fat per one cup serving, compared with the eight grams of fat in a
standard-sized 40 gram chocolate bar.
Okay, so hot cocoa (minus the whipped cream) is a good way to fight cancer, but
can't you get just as many antioxidants from eating a carrot stick?
Well, yes, any vegetable you pick up at your produce section (particularly
grapes, garlic and spinach) is bound to give you healthy boost of cancer-
fighting antioxidants. But how much fun can you possibly have munching on garlic
cloves while curled up by the fire on a cold winter night? So this winter
season, drink up your hot cocoa - after all, it's good for your health!
* * *
When making hot cocoa, skip the pre-packaged mixes in your supermarket: they're
laden with too much sugar and other ugly additives your body does not need.
Here's my own homemade mix that I keep on hand in my pantry to make creamy hot
cocoa in a moment's notice:
HOT COCOA MIX FOR YOUR PANTRY
1 cup nonfat dry milk
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
FLAVORED VARIATIONS: Add 2 teaspoons of one of these ingredients to the above
mix:
Ground cinnamon
Ground cloves
Ground allspice
Combine ingredients and mix well. Store in airtight container. No need to
refrigerate.
To make the hot cocoa, add 2-3 tablespoons of mix to a mug (1 cup) of cold milk
and whisk well until dissolved. Microwave mug 1 minute on high. Add mini
marshmallows if you'd like.
* * *
Larry Burdick, owner of L.A. Burdick Chocolate café and shop in Walpole, New
Hampshire
http://www.burdickchocolate.com was not surprised by Cornell University's
findings. "Chocolate - good chocolate - is complex food that is good for you,"
he said. The bad rap chocolate gets in regard to obesity, tooth decay and skin
problems has more to do with the consumption of lower grade chocolate products
that are laden with sugar and cheap fats, Burdick says. "There's actually very
little chocolate in a Hershey bar. It's mostly sugar."
Burdick's famous hot chocolate recipe calls for both ground chocolate and cocoa
powder. You can lower the fat content of the recipe by using skim or 1% milk.
Note there is no added sugar in this recipe: "The slight sweetness comes
naturally from high quality chocolate," he says. If the hot chocolate is too
thick for your taste, use more milk.
Burdick's Hot Chocolate
Makes 1 ½ cups
1 ½ cups milk (1% or skim)
2 heaping teaspoons of cocoa powder
¼ cup ground dark chocolate (use high quality chocolate that has 60% or more
cocoa content) ground nutmeg or cinnamon to taste
Heat milk to just below boiling. Whisk in cocoa powder and ground chocolate, and
spices.
* * *
Tom Fegley, of Tom and Sally's Handmade Chocolates in Brattleboro, Vermont
www.tomandsallys.com suggests
investing in European cocoa for the best-tasting hot cocoa. "The difference in
taste between a French cocoa and Swiss Miss is astounding," he said. The store
sells 2.2 pound bags of cocoa imported from France for $11. Here's a simple
recipe:
Tom and Sally's Hot Cocoa
Makes 1 cup
1 cup of hot milk, half & half, OR light cream
1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder
Sugar to taste
Heat milk (do not boil). Whisk in cocoa powder and sugar to taste. Stir and add
whipped cream if desired.
* * *
Victor Beguin, owner of La Bonne Table in Peterborough, New Hampshire
http://www.labonnetable.com - a café,
catering facility and cooking school - insists that melting chunks of dark
chocolate is the best and most authentic way to make the drink, dating back to
the Aztecs, who drank their hot chocolate using only melted chocolate and
cayenne pepper.
"People who really love chocolate are missing out using (pre-mixed) . Using a
good quality chocolate is the ultimate," Beguin says. He recommends the Droste
brand of Dutch chocolate for this recipe; however, Lindt or Ghiradelli dark
chocolate is also flavorful. For a lower fat version, use Droste cocoa.
Beguin also forgoes regular sugar for succanat, evaporated cane juice crystals
available in health food stores. "It is not only healthier (than white sugar),
but it give the hot chocolate a beautiful caramel taste."
Beguin adds a pinch of salt to his hot chocolate "It seems like a little thing
to add, but it really helps to bring out the flavor." Here's a recipe to serve
your apres skiing or sledding guests:
La Bonne Table's Party Hot Chocolate/Cocoa
Makes 1 gallon
1 gallon whole milk
1 cup chopped semi-sweet dark chocolate OR ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup succanat
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
1 pinch of salt
dash of cardamom or saffron
Heat milk (if using vanilla bean, add bean during the heating process) and
simmer. Add chocolate pieces and succanat and whisk to blend. Check for taste
and add more sugar or chocolate if desired. Add salt, and cardamom or saffron.
Remove vanilla bean before serving. (If using vanilla extract, add before
serving)
NOTE: If using cocoa powder, whisk into the milk BEFORE you heat the milk for
easier solubility.
* * *
DID YOU KNOW?
There were 1,040 U.S. manufacturing establishments producing chocolate and cocoa
products in 2001. These establishments employed 45,913 people and shipped $12
billion worth of goods that year. California led the nation in the number of
chocolate and cocoa manufacturing establishments (with 116) followed by
Pennsylvania (with 107).
There's a difference between hot cocoa and hot chocolate? Hot cocoa is made from
cocoa powder, which is chocolate pressed free of almost all fat. Hot chocolate
is made from chocolate bars melted into cream.
The original hot cocoa recipe hailed from the Aztecs thousands of years ago;
they used a mixture of ground cocoa beans, water, wine and peppers. This recipe
was adapted by the Spaniards who sweetened the concoction with sugar. The
English took this recipe in the 1600s, and added milk to the mixture.
About the author:
Marcia Passos Duffy, a freelance writer, is editor and publisher of From the
Heart of New England Ezine, which celebrates the unique character of Northern
New England. Each issue is packed with feature stories written by New Englanders
on the gardening, food, and places to visit, plus common sense tips & ideas from
New England artisans, craftspeople and farmers. To subscribe to this free ezine,
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