Slashfood

• The best chocolate milk you can find in a bottle
  

  Filed under: Dairy, New Products, Hot chocolate

  The Fancy Food Show is starting to become a distant memory, as the demands of regular old work and life push their back into the forefront of my mind. However, there are a few products that continue to stick with me and continue to marvel me with their absolute deliciousness.
  
  One such product is Cocio. It doesn't look like much, in fact it's nothing more than chocolate milk in a bottle. However, it is the best chocolate milk I've ever tasted. It is sweet, but not cloying, thick without being sludgy and every so chocolate-y. It...
  



• Hump Day Happy Hour: Bachelor Buzz
  

  Filed under: Chocolate, Recipes, Cocktails, Hot chocolate

  I know it's a couple of days after St. Patrick's Day and spring is coming up and we're all supposed to be thinking about flowers and running through meadows and wearing shorts, but I hate spring and summer and I'm not quite ready to release winter from my cold hands yet. So, here's a hot chocolate recipe with a little kick.

  It's the Bachelor Buzz, and besides hot chocolate it contains raspberry syrup, hazelnut syrup, and espresso. I'm not quite sure what makes this bachelor-ish, but pretend you're drinking it in some swingin' pad.

  Continue reading Hump Day...
  




• Colombian hot chocolate
  

  Filed under: Dessert, South America, Dairy, Spices, Hot chocolate, Sugar

  I've loved experimenting with drinking chocolates this winter. Swirling shaved chocolate into a saucepan of milk produces a far better result than anything I achieve with hot cocoa mix. I usually use dark chocolate, and sometimes add sugar until the mixture reaches my desired sweetness. That is, until recently -- the mother of my close friend is Colombian, and she brought us a bar of Colombian chocolate designed for melting into hot beverages. I can't get enough of it.
  
  The bar is already sweetened perfectly, so you just add it to hot milk...
  



• Vanilla Hot Chocolate
  

  Filed under: Chocolate, Recipes, Comfort Food, Hot chocolate

  Winter has made a comeback in the Northeast today. We're supposed to get 8 to 10 inches in my area, so I'm in one of those "hot chocolate, read a book, watch some DVDs on the couch" sort of moods, so I thought I'd post a hot chocolate recipe.

  But this isn't just for one cup of hot chocolate, it's a mix you can store so you don't have to keep making one cup at a time. I've been meaning to try the recipe that Tyler Florence made on one of his holiday shows on Food Network a...
  




• Hump Day Winter Happy Hour: Grown-Up Hot Chocolate
  

  Filed under: Chocolate, Hot chocolate

  Mmmm...hot chocolate. Is there any other drink that is so tied-in and associated with a season than hot chocolate's association with winter? It truly is the comfort drink of the season.

  For this happy hour, I figured I'd find something that was hot chocolate, but kicked up a notch* for the adults who read Slashfood. This Grown-Up Hot Chocolate has Ghirardelli chocolate chips and cocoa as the main ingredient, along with amaretto. You can substitute a hazelnut, orange, or coffee liqueur or peppermint schnapps or extract. The link above has a bunch of other winter cocktail recipes too, including Baroque, Glogg, and Silk Stocking....
  




• It's cold - time for hot chocolate!
  

  Filed under: Chocolate, Fall Flavors, Comfort Food, Hot chocolate

  

  It's really chilly here in the Northeast. I love the cold weather, it's just that the first big chill of the season can be shocking, especially since we had such an oddly warm October. This is the first time I had to turn on the heat this fall.

  So how about some hot chocolate? Having a nice hot mug of hot chocolate on a cold evening is one of the great things in life. Here's a recipe for Easy Mexican Hot Chocolate (which includes cinnamon and chili powder) and here's one for Avenue' S Hot Chocolate...
  




• Chocolate Kiev
  

  Filed under: Vodka, Chocolate, Hot chocolate

  So you have to work tomorrow, how about one more drink tonight before you go to bed?

  This is the Chocolate Kiev. I'm not a big vodka drinker (ever since drinking too much in one night many years ago), so I'm not familiar with vanilla vodka, but this one sounds like it has a good kick but enough chocolate sweetness too.

  Chocolate Kiev

  1 oz hot cocoa mix
  4 oz hot milk
  1 oz vanilla vodka
  3/4 oz Amaretto

  Combine in a mug, and stir well.
  

  Chocolate, Recipes, The History of..., Comfort Food, Hot chocolate

  Is it cold where you are right now? I mean cold enough to get a nice cup of hot chocolate and get all cozy on the couch? Yeah, it isn't here either. Though it's finally gotten cool after a couple of weeks of 73 degree days (that's just not right in the middle/end of October). I'm starting to get into that fall/hot chocolate mindset, and found this page at WhatsCookingAmerica.net that explains the history of hot chocolate. It makes for interesting reading, and includes several hot chocolate recipes, like the one...
  




• More health benefits attributed to cocoa
  

  Filed under: Science, Chocolate, Did you know?, Hot chocolate, Health & Medical

  Flavanols are the chemicals in chocolate, as well as in wine and teas, that are responsible for many of the nutritional bonuses that it offers, including improved circulation and general heart health. These antioxidants have also been shown to increase the flow of blood to the brain in research presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Increased blood flow to the brain has been associated with improved cognitive performance in healthy people, as it carries more oxygen to the brain than when high-flavanol cocoa is not eaten. Since...
  




• Hot Chocolate Cones
  

  Filed under: Chocolate, How To, Hot chocolate

  So today is not only Valentine's Day, it's also a great day for hot chocolate (for much of the country, anyway...you stay classy San Diego). So let's combine the two and see what we get.

  And that would be Hot Chocolate Cones! They're cocoa, mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, and a red gum drop placed inside cone-shaped cellophane wrappers. Makes a cool gift:

  3/4 cup cocoa mix
  two 6" x 12" cone-shaped cellophane bags
  2 clear rubberbands
  scissors
  1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
  3/4 cup mini marshmallows
  1 large red gumdrop

  Continue reading Hot Chocolate Cones