Make hot chocolate from scratch

Hot chocolate from scratch takes about ten minutes, and it tastes nothing like the powder from a packet. You need a small pan, a whisk and a few things you probably already own. This recipe makes one very big mug.

Pick your chocolate

Cocoa powder gives the flavour, and a square of real chocolate gives it body. Use unsweetened cocoa powder, and a chocolate bar you’d happily eat on its own. Dark chocolate makes a deeper, less sweet drink, and milk chocolate a sweeter, gentler one. Chop it finely so it melts quickly.

If you can, use whole milk. Plant milks work too, though they can make it a little thinner.

Make it

For one big mug, you’ll need:

• 2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 ounce chocolate, finely chopped (about one square)
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a small pan, whisk the cocoa and sugar with 2 tablespoons of the milk until it’s a smooth paste.
2. Pour in the rest of the milk and whisk.
3. Warm it over medium-low heat, stirring often, until it’s steaming but not boiling.
4. Add the chocolate and the salt. Whisk until the chocolate melts and the drink looks glossy.
5. Take it off the heat, stir in the vanilla, and pour it into your mug.

Taste it before you pour. Add more sugar if you want it sweeter, or another pinch of salt if it tastes flat.

Which cocoa to buy

Plain unsweetened cocoa powder is what you want. Natural cocoa is a little sharp and fruity, and Dutch-process cocoa (sometimes labelled “alkalised”) is darker and mellower. Either works here. Don’t use a drinking chocolate mix that already has sugar and milk powder in it, because then you can’t control how sweet it is.

If you don’t have a chocolate bar, use 3 tablespoons each of cocoa and sugar instead of 2, and add a small knob of butter at the end for richness.

Make it for a crowd

The recipe scales up easily. For four mugs, use 8 cups of milk, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup sugar, 4 ounces of chocolate, a pinch of salt and 2 teaspoons of vanilla, in a large pot. Warm it a little longer, whisking often, and keep the heat low. Ladle it into mugs, and let people add their own toppings.

Make it yours

• A drop of peppermint extract, or a candy cane as a stirrer
• A pinch of cinnamon, or a tiny pinch of chilli for warmth
• A splash of cream, for something richer
• Whipped cream on top, or marshmallows you made yourself, which melt beautifully
• A splash of liqueur, only if you’re 21 or over in the US (or the legal age where you live), and never if you’re driving

What goes wrong

• It’s lumpy. The cocoa went in dry. Whisk it into a paste with a little milk first, and pour it through a sieve if you need to.
• It’s thin and watery. Add more chocolate and warm it a little longer.
• It’s burnt on the bottom. The heat was too high. Warm the milk slowly, stir, and don’t walk away.
• It has a skin. It cooled while it sat. Whisk it, or pour it straight into the mug.
• It tastes bitter. Add a little more sugar, or a splash of cream.

Serve it well

Warm the mug first by rinsing it with hot water, and the drink stays hot longer. Pour slowly, and give it a last stir from the bottom, because the chocolate can settle. Let it cool for a minute before the first sip: milk heated this way is hotter than it looks.

Keep the leftovers

If you make a bigger batch for friends, it keeps in the fridge for a day or two in a covered jar. Heat it gently and whisk again before you pour. Don’t leave it sitting out for hours, because it’s milk.

Make it a winter evening

Make it when you come in from the cold, or on a night you’d rather stay in. It’s even better after sledding, when your hands are still tingling.