Polar vortex got you down? Cheer up with a cup of gourmet hot chocolate.

In your arsenal against the polar vortex add a cup of decadent hot chocolate.

|
Neila Columbo
Use Jersey milk for the sweetest cup of gourmet hot chocolate.

The sweeping Arctic temperatures delivered by the polar vortex in recent days have humbled me into survivalist mode. While I am perfectly accustomed to unfriendly winter seasons, I am finding this cold spell particularly uncivilized. As a coping mechanism, I have begun wearing an attire more fitting of an ice age: double socks, two scarves, a puffy wool hat, ear covers, tights, and leg warmers.

Yet, this has not sufficed. I am still, like millions of others, still cold. There is one indulgence that is helping to keep my spirits up: gourmet hot chocolate.

While working during part of the days this week at a neighborhood cafe with WiFi, I have been treating myself to not one hot chocolate each day, but three, to be precise. This little "indulgence" has already depleted my weekly budget for cafe drinks that seemingly can only be made with the artistic skill of a barista. With this said, I have become especially attached to this particular kind of hot chocolate, and I knew I could not endure the remainder of this week without another. Who knows how long this polar-like winter may go on, it could be months!

Graciously, Brendan Higgins, the cafe barista at Area Four Bakery and Cafe in Cambridge, Mass., fully understood this dilemma, and generously shared his technique and recipe for creating an indulgent hot chocolate this winter, or any time of year.

How to make a gourmet cup of hot chocolate

1. Mr. Higgins says he always uses milk in place of water when making hot chocolate, and preferably milk from “Jersey” cows. Look for the "Jersey milk" label on cartons and jugs of milk. Higgins explains that milk from Jersey cows steams better and is sweeter because of higher protein structure. But feel free to use your milk of choice.

2. Choose your favorite chocolate sauce recipe to make – Higgins described his as “some butter, sugar, cream, and chopped dark chocolate.” Open in measurement, but seems simple in execution. (For a truly decadent chocolate sauce, try Mast Brothers Chocolate.)

3. Once the chocolate sauce is prepared, it should remain “warm to the touch.” Place a 1/2 inch of the chocolate sauce in the bottom of a a tall glass or mug.

4. Either by steam or saucepan, warm milk to approximately 170 degrees F., if the milk becomes scalding, it will lose its flavor.

5. Add heated milk to the glass or mug, and gently mix chocolate sauce with poured milk.

6. Shave chocolate over each glass or mug, or try creating a design on the hot chocolate froth such as Higgins’s “leaf” design (see photo). For this effect, he took the remainder of the warmed milk and poured a small amount in a front-and-back motion with his hand. This part, Higgins modestly noted, is an art he has come to perfect only over time.

Voila!

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Polar vortex got you down? Cheer up with a cup of gourmet hot chocolate.
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2014/0108/Polar-vortex-got-you-down-Cheer-up-with-a-cup-of-gourmet-hot-chocolate
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe