Maybe because I'm a dairy farmer's daughter, Swiss Miss packs stirred into hot water just don't pass. I like the real cocoa powder stirred into real milk. The recipe I was using worked well but it would be slightly more convenient to have a mix already prepared. I was planning to adapt my recipe but found this one earlier this fall in Susan Branch's Autumn
.Simple, quick, and beats Swiss Miss hands down! Now I can enjoy hot cocoa even more frequently.
Several of you said that you took my master muffin mix and gave it for gifts. I can imagine this cocoa mix would combine well for a meaningful, yummy gift.
Cocoa Mix
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Mix all ingredients and keep in airtight container.
To make cocoa:
Add 2 T. cocoa mix to 1 cup (8 oz) hot milk. Stir until dissolved. (I use a small whisk.) If you wish, add a few drops of vanilla or some marshmallows.
I'm no dairy farmer's daughter, but I totally agree with you about Swiss Mix and all related hot chocolates. I am anxious to try this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing it!
ReplyDeleteSo thankful to you for this recipe! all the others call for ingredients that I do not like to use. So we will be using this one..can't wait to try! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteJoy
yes, I'm not a fan of the grocery store packets either.
ReplyDeleteI found a new recipe this year and your post reminded me that I want to blog about it. It's got a great taste and (hooray) a little punch of caffeine, so I like it to get me through a sleepy afternoon.
After watching the movie Chocolat, I also like to add a sprinkle of cayenne to my hot chocolate :)
Our favourite drink here is Milo. It is a malted chocolate drink. I wanted to make my own but the price of malted milk in the supermarket was quite high. I found that you can get plain light malted barley powder from home brew supply shops at a much better price, so I made up the recipe with cocoa, sugar, malt powder and powdered milk.
ReplyDeleteSomething else that I recently discovered is a drink called salep. It is a middle Eastern milk drink that is smooth, vanilla flavoured, usually sprinkled with cinnamon and a little like a runny custard or sauce. Originally it was made from a rare mucilaginous Lily but because of scarcity, they now use guar gum.
I added a little salep to my mix and it makes for a smooth and creamy mouth feel, just a little thicker than normal.
I know it is getting away from the simplicity of your mix but just thought I'd share my experimentation/variations.
I just tried this mix and it's FANTASTIC! I'm always disappointed in how anemic some mixes are, but this one has a perfect amount of chocolate. I used Valrhona cocoa powder, so it's extra dark and yummy. I'm definitely giving this as a gift. Thanks!
ReplyDelete