Quick Hot Cocoa: An Easy Treat

 “Tomorrow, I’m going to make hot cocoa without a mix.”

I occasionally get into hot cocoa grooves.  I can go months and years without drinking hot cocoa and then, one not-so-special day, I must have it.  

I’m admittedly food snobbish about many things, but not hot cocoa.  One day, I tried to be.  I decided to melt bittersweet chocolate and add some milk, making a thick concoction that was undeniably delicious.  However, it was so rich that I threw up. Yeah...cool story, right?

Since that unpleasant experience, I have preferred a less rich, very milky hot cocoa. Something that resembles the kind made from a mix, but without the trip to the store. Since I usually keep milk and cocoa on hand for baking, this recipe is perfect for a one-off hot cocoa craving.  Without the vomit.

FILL ME WITH DELICIOUS

Quick Hot Cocoa
(one serving)

1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoon water
¾ cup milk (any fat %, non-dairy would probably work as well)
drop of vanilla extract

Combine cocoa, and sugar in a microwave safe mug.  Pour over water and stir.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds.  
Add milk and stir to combine.  Microwave on high until as warm as you like (about a minute on my microwave that is from the the 80s).
Add a drop of vanilla extract.  Stir one last time.  Serve with marshmallows or whipped cream, if you like.

Source: Top Secret Recipes- Starbucks Hot Chocolate by Todd Wilbur

Party Like its 1799: Hot Buttered Rum

“Tomorrow, I’m going to celebrate the holidays like an American Colonist.”

The tradition of drinking sweet hot alcoholic beverages in winter is very old.  Colonists in what would become the US started drinking them with the alcohol popular in the new world: rum. 

Most traditional recipes for Hot Buttered Rum involve hot water, rum, and spices, with a pat of butter floated on top.  

Imagine its the dead of a winter, in pre-revolutionary times, before the electric light.  Its cold and dark, and you’re probably sick with any number of awful diseases.  Watered down rum is probably the closest thing you’re going to get to cough syrup, so I get that.  Spices?  Delicious and festive.  But I don’t really understand why someone decided to add a pat of butter to all of that.  Apparently it was a common practice, as people also added it to beer.

At some point in the 20th century, someone decided to add ice cream.  And why not? Ice cream makes everything great.  For my recipe, I used less sugar than many recipes and froze the batter in a silicon muffin tin for pre-portioned servings.  If you don’t drink alcohol, try just adding boiling water (I drank watered down batter every year as a kid and kind of prefer it now). Alternately, I’m told that it is a delicious addition to coffee.

Waiting for boiling water.

Hot Buttered Rum Batter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 cup softened vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Combine ingredients in medium bowl with a hand mixer. The butter will harden up upon contact with the cold ice cream, and that's alright. As long as the lumps are small and emulsified in the mixture, everything will be fine. 

Portion 1/4 cup servings into a silicon muffin tin.  Freeze at least 6 hours or overnight. 

To serve: Combine with desired amount of dark rum (completely depends on how much you like rum, but start with about 1 oz) and 8 oz boiling water. Stir until melted.
OR, combine with hot strong coffee and stir until melted.

Do yourself a favor and use good tasting rum,
the hot water seems to enhance the flavor.

Recipe Source: Loosely based on this recipe, from Allrecipes.

Info on Hot Toddies, Hot Buttered Rum, and more:

Guerreri, Matthew. "Fuzzy Math: The Hot Toddy (a history)" Wonderlandkitchen.com. Jan 30, 2012.
Therlot, Lars. "Hot Buttered Rum."  12bottlebar.com. Dec 10, 2010.
Hesser, Amanda. The New York Times Cookbook.