Dutch Hot Chocolate Recipes

Steps:

• Place milk and half-and-half in a saucepan and heat to a simmer over medium heat.
• Meanwhile, stir together the cocoa powder, sugar, and cinnamon. A few teaspoons at a time, stir the hot milk into the cocoa mixture to make a smooth paste. Scrape the cocoa mixture into the saucepan with the milk and simmer 2 minutes; do not let it boil. Stir in the vanilla and keep warm in a thermos.
• Pour into small serving cups and place 4 mini-marshmallows on each serving or spritz them with whipped cream. Serve immediately.
• Make the marshmallows: Combine the water, the corn syrup, and the sugar in a saucepan fitted with a candy thermometer. Bring to a boil and boil to "soft-ball" stage, or about 235 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the gelatin over the 2 tablespoons water and let sponge.
• When the syrup reaches 235 degrees F, remove it from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix. Pour the syrup into the whipped egg whites. Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
• Cover a sheet pan with parchment paper then sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Pour the marshmallow onto the pan and spread it out. Let cool about 2 hours then with a pair of scissors dipped in cornstarch, cut out football shapes.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, stir together the cocoa and 6 tablespoons of sugar. Stir in 1/4 cup of the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, making a smooth paste.
• Place the remaining milk and the vanilla bean in a large saucepan and bring just to a boil. Meanwhile, whip the cream to soft peaks; add 2 teaspoons of sugar to it. Remove the milk from the heat and whisk into the chocolate mixture. Remove the vanilla bean.
• Ladle the chocolate into 4 mugs and top with generous dollops of the whipped cream. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• In a heavy medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in about half of the milk to make a smooth paste and stir in the rest. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil and begins to thicken, about 6 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring, for 1 minute longer, until smooth and very thick. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the chocolate, butter and vanilla, stirring until they are both melted. Pour the pudding into 4 dessert bowls or one larger serving dish. Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming on top and refrigerate until firm. (This will take about 30 minutes for individual dishes, longer for the large bowl.) Serve plain or topped with the optional whipped cream.

Steps:

• To make the basic hot chocolate, combine the milk with the half-and-half in a small saucepan. Warm over medium-low heat, and then stir in the chocolate chips. Stir until melted (though there will still be lovely particles of chocolate throughout). If it's too chocolaty for you, splash in a little more milk. Add a splash of vanilla extract. If it's not quite sweet enough for you, add 1 teaspoon or so of sugar. Serve in mugs with whipped cream.