Culinary lavender is a  surprisingly versatile ingredient. It mingles beautifully with many spices, honey, creamy dairy products, and lush dessert ingredients, including chocolate.  During a recent bout of icy winter weather, I decided to create a lavender-spice hot chocolate that took particular advantage of these flavor affinities. I also aimed for a version that would be especially warming and welcoming after spending time out in the cold. Modestly, I have to say I succeeded.  A cup of this smooth, rich brew was a irresistible reward for my  hour tramping around in a snowstorm taking photographs of ice-encased trees. I’m sure anybody out shoveling and shivering, or chopping and lugging firewood, or  swooshing down the ski slopes, or just out walking on a bitter winter day would be pleased to come in and warm up with this luxurious, full-bodied lavender-spice hot chocolate.

Besides its noticeable creaminess, one thing I love about this hot chocolate is the subtle hint of lavender-spice. Ginger, lavender, and cardamom quietly intermingle, lending a pleasing complexity that deepens and livens the flavor and fragrance, but never steals the chocolate show. One culinary colleague of mine, Chef Susan Callahan, says this is the “best hot chocolate” she’s ever tasted.  That’s the way I feel about it myself!  (BTW, cardamom is hard to find and expensive in supermarkets but usually in stock and reasonably priced in spice shops and Indian grocery stores.)

Hot Chocolate versus Hot Cocoa

In case you are wondering, hot chocolate and hot cocoa are not the same, even though we Americans often use the names interchangeably. Hot chocolate features chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, not cocoa powder. European-style hot chocolate drinks tastes more full-bodied than our hot cocoa because they are normally made with milk (and maybe cream!), not water. Especially in Switzerland and Austrian cafes usually top servings of hot chocolate with a generous dollop of whipped cream. They don’t garnish their hot chocolate with marshmallows unless they are  preparing a recipe “American-style.”

Cocoa powder is a chocolate product, but it has a less robust yet sharper flavor than a dark premium chocolate.  It’s the dry mixture left when most of the creamy-white natural cacao fat, called cocoa butter, is pressed out of  chocolate during manufacturing. Even though some cocoa containers actually include directions for making “hot chocolate,” if you’re using cocoa powder, you’re actually making “hot cocoa.”

If you wish, you can double, triple, or quadruple my lavender-spice hot chocolate recipe. For convenience, you can make it a day or two ahead and reheat to piping hot at serving time.  Be sure to strain it or skim off the milk skin that forms on top during storage. It will detract from the  look and velvety texture.

Lavender-Spice Hot Chocolate--Rich and Soothing Warmer-Upper

 

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A key to making a good lavender hot chocolate is starting with a good-quality, fragrant culinary lavender and a suitable chocolate. Bars or blocks of quality dark eating chocolate or baking chocolate that are between 55 and 70 % cacao work best in this recipe. Skip milk chocolates as they lack the robust flavor needed. Don’t try to substitute chocolate morsels designed for making chocolate chip cookies either, They are usually designed not to melt much during baking, so they resist combining with liquids, even when thoroughly heated.

Author: Nancy Baggett

Ingredients

• • 1½ cups whole milk
• • ½ cup heavy cream
• • 1½ teaspoons dried culinary lavender buds
• • 5 or 6⅛-inch thick peeled, nickel-sized slices fresh ginger root
• • ¼ teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds (or substitute ¼ teaspoon crushed allspice berries)
• • 5 to 5½ ounces 60 to 70 percent cacao semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, plus extra grated chocolate for garnishing
• • 2 to 5 teaspoons clover honey, or to taste
• • Lightly sweetened whipped cream for garnish

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan bring the milk, cream, lavender, ginger root and cardamom just to a boil over medium-high heat. (Alternatively, combine the ingredients in a heat-proof 4-quart measure and microwave on high until just boiling; watch closely to prevent a boil-over.) Immediately stir and set aside; let the mixture to steep for 10-15 minutes (or longer for a stronger lavender-spice flavor). Meanwhile, chop the chocolate into ¼-inch bits. Place it in another medium-sized saucepan.
   
2. Reheat the steeped milk mixture until very hot but not boiling. Strain it through a very fine mesh sieve into a heat-proof pitcher or clean heat-proof glass measure. Press down on the spices to extract as much liquid as possible. Set the saucepan with the chocolate over lowest heat, then immediately vigorously whisk in a scant ½ cup hot milk mixture. At first the chocolate will break into fine bits, but continue whisking until it comes together smoothly. Repeat the process, adding ½ cup milk mixture and whisking until the completely smooth and well blended; check carefully to be sure no fine bits remain. Very slowly add the remainder of the milk mixture in a thin stream, whisking until the hot chocolate is very smooth. Taste and thoroughly stir in honey to increase sweetness, if desired.
3. Reheat the hot chocolate until piping hot but not boiling; divide between cups or pour into a very large mug. Immediately top the hot chocolate generously with dollops of whipped cream (don’t stir it in). Sprinkle lightly with grated chocolate and serve, along with a spoon. For leftover hot chocolate, lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the top to prevent a skin from forming, then refrigerate for up to 3 days.
4. Remove the plastic and, if necessary, skim or strain off and discard any skin. Reheat to piping hot before serving. 2 servings (2 cups)

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